

^-^/?_ ?/- 



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ORGE voi^ LENGE JE 
MEYER ' 

HIS LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES 



BY 

M. A. DeWOLFE HOWE 

AUTHOR OF "LIFE AND LETTERS OP GEORGE BANCROFT," "LIFB AND 
LABORS OF BISHOP HARE," ETC. 



WITH ILLUSTRATIONS 




NEW YORK 

DODD, MEAD AND COMPANY 

1919 



COPTRIOHT, 1919, BT 

DODD, MEAD AND COMPANY, Inc. 



Uhb 23 !9I9 



(EIk Qufim & 9otun Companp 

DOOK MANUFACTURERS 
R A H W A Y N eIw JERSEY 



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lj^)UAr.C. I2IKJ, 



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CONTENTS 






CHAPTER 

I Beginnings . . . . 




PAGE 
1 


II 


Affairs and Politics in 
Massachusetts 


Boston and 


10 


III 


Ambassador to Italy . 


,•; .*, • 


30 


IV 


Ambassador to Russia 


• • . 


137 


V 


Postmaster General . 


• • • 


352 


VI 


Secretary of the Navy . 


• • • 


422 


VII 


The Final Years 


l•^ .•) :•■ 


493 



f 




)' 



\\ 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 

Photograph of George v. L. Meyer with Fac- 
simile Autograph .... Frontispiece 

PAGE 

George Augustus and Grace Helen (Parker) 

Meyer, Parents of George v. L. Meyer . 4 
The House at Rock Maple Farm, Hamilton . 16 
Silver Plate presented to Mr. Meyer by the 

Massachusetts House of Representatives . 24 
Palazzo Brancaccio, American Embassy at Rome, 

1901-1905 36 

Mr. Meyer and his Daughters, riding to the Hunt, 

on the Campagna 50 

View from Balcony of Palazzo Brancaccio, 

Santa Maria Maggiore in the Distance . 68 
King Victor Emmanuel III and the American 

Ambassador — San Rossore, November, 1903 76 
Group at a Boar Shoot with the King and Queen 

of Italy, Castel Porziano .... 82 

The Duchess of Aosta 104 

Hunting on the Campagna: Mr. Meyer on His 

Horse " Ruby " 128 

The Kleinmichel Palace, American Embassy at 

St. Petersburg, 1905-1907 . . . .144 
Mrs. George von Lengerke Meyer . . .170 
Mr. Meyer in Cossack Costume .... 210 
The American Ambassador in his Droshky, St. 

Petersburg 238 

The Opening of the Duma 280 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAOB 

The Chateau Antoniny, Volhynia .... 310 

Hunting Party at Antoniny 314 

The Library at Hamilton 328 

The Malachite Coq de Bruyere presented to Mr. 

Meyer by Russian Friends .... 336 
A Day's Catch at the Restigouche , . . 364 
Autograph Greeting and Drawing from Presi- 
dent Roosevelt 378 

The Roosevelt Cabinet, with Autographs . . 414 
The Taft Cabinet, with Autographs . . . 426 
At the Harvard Commencement of 1911, when 

JNIr. Meyer received the Degree of LL.D. 430 
President Taft and Secretary Meyer at Naval 

Review, New York Harbour .... 450 
Silver Galleon Presented to Secretary Meyer by 

Officers of the U. S. Navy .... 490 
An Autograph Memento of the Kaiser . . . 496 
Wedding Party at Rock Maple Farm, at the 

Marriage of Miss Julia Meyer . . . 504 
George v. L. Meyer, with his Son and Grandson 

of the Same Name 510 

Last Photograph of Mr. Meyer, with His Son at 

Hamilton, November, 1917 . . . . 516 



PREFATORY 

This book, prepared at the request of Mrs. Meyer, 
is based chiefly upon a large collection of papers, in 
manuscript and in print, placed by her at my disposal. 
To her help at all points of the undertaking I am much 
indebted. I would gratefully acknowledge also the 
assistance received from many friends of Mr. Meyer in 
public and private life, through spoken and written 
words about him; from my secretary, Miss Helen M. 
Boyer, and from Mr. George B. Ives, who has made 
the Index. 

M. A. DeW. H. 

Boston^ October^ 1919. 



GEORGE VON LENGERKE MEYER: 
HIS LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES 



BEGINNINGS 

(1858-1877) 

The biography of an American in public life is fre- 
quently the story of one whose boyhood and younger 
manhood have been engrossed with the surmounting 
of handicaps. This American has often been born 
poor, with narrowly limited opportunities for educa- 
tion and that favourable start in life which may count 
for much in the opening years of a man's career. 
His conquest of these difficulties has served only to 
strengthen his fibre for the important work awaiting 
him. 

The life of the public servant whose career is to be 
recorded in these pages did not begin in this tradi- 
tional fashion. But there are other handicaps to be 
overcome than those of poverty and obscurity. There 
is a positive handicap of good fortune. It is fatally 
easy for the young American in comfortable circum- 
stances, having passed through school and college on 
terms involving a minimum of struggle, to drift into 
the easy-going ways of a foreordained business or 
profession, to feel that he is fulfilling his destiny if he 



2 GEORGE VON L. MEYER usss-mi 

contents himself with the mere increase of his family 
resom*ces, and adorns the society into which he was 
born by membership in the best clubs of city and 
country, by playing the pleasant game of life indoors 
and out, as a gentleman should — and letting it go at 
that. It is the rare American who does these thinsrs 
without leaving the others undone. Those other 
things, when they have to do with the useful occu- 
pancy of public office, call for character, purpose, and 
unwearying effort. Indeed, they are obtained only 
through the constant exercise of these qualities. The 
story of such a life therefore becomes typical of 
American biography in general, not through the pre- 
cise nature of the struggle to be encountered, but 
through the fact that there must be singleness of aim, 
s.elf-denying endeavour, unremitting and unsparing, 
from the beginning to the end. 

The career of George Meyer, in the government of 
Boston and Massachusetts, in his ambassadorships to 
Italy and Russia, in the cabinets of Presidents Roose- 
velt and Taft, respectively, as Postmaster General and 
Secretary of the Navy, reveals this type of American 
life with uncommon clearness. He entered politics 
and proceeded in his fruitful participation in public 
life, not in the spirit of the born reformer, but rather 
in that of the astute and effective man of affairs who 
wanted to make himself useful to his community and 
his generation, and took a genuine satisfaction in the 
carrying out of this purpose. Like other men of 
essentially simple and normal natures, he made note 
from time to time of phrases and mottoes which 



185S-1877] BEGINNINGS 3 

appeared to sum up his philosophy of life. " The star 
of each man's destiny is in his heart," was one of 
these watchwords, suggesting a clearly defined and 
guiding purpose of his own making. Another phrase, 
quoted in his diary during his ambassadorship in Italy, 
and pencil-marked for emphasis in the margin, is still 
more significant: " The soul's joy lies in the doing." 
This, indeed, sounds the keynote of George Meyer's 
career, and seems to reveal the impulse that actuated 
him throughout life — to do things, and to do them 
well; for so he did them, and, with every occasion 
of increasing responsibility and opportunity, did them 
better than any, excepting the very few who knew 
him best, believed that he could do them. In the eyes 
of many his career thus became a series of surprises. 
In reality, it was the direct result of obvious causes, 
the chief of which was his own employment, to the 
top of his bent, of native gifts assiduously cultivated. 
These gifts disclosing themselves more and more 
clearly as the years went on, and left in this place 
for the detailed disclosure which the following narra- 
tive will make of them, carried him far. The record 
of his life becomes, therefore, both typical and 
suggestive. 

George von Lengerke Meyer was born in Boston, 
Massachusetts, June 24, 1858. He was the eldest of 
his parents' three children, and the only son. His 
father, George Augustus Meyer, was a Boston East 
India merchant (born in New York in 1824; died in 
Boston, 1899), the son of a New York merchant of 



4 GEORGE VON L. MEYER lisss-mi 

the same name. Both this grandfather and his wife, 
Johanna Catharina von Lengerke, were natives of 
Germany. The father of the elder George Augustus, 
Heinrich Ernst Ludwig Meyer, was Oheramtmarm, 
or chief magistrate, of Westen in Hanover. He was 
the father of fifteen children, and is reported in family 
tradition to have been so stout that a large section of 
his dining-table had to be cut away, so that he could 
take his food in comfort. One son of this vigorous 
parent, a great-uncle of the subject of these pages, 
was Lieutenant Colonel F. L. Meyer, of the Third 
Hussars, King's German Legion, who fought, and was 
killed, under Bliicher at Waterloo. 

This strong German stock, traced by genealogists 
far beyond the eighteenth-century great-grandfather, 
had its counterpart in the pure New England and 
English descent of George Meyer's mother, Grace 
Helen Parker. Her father, WilHam Parker, was a 
Boston lawyer, president of the Boylston Bank, and 
a director of the Boston and Worcester Railroad. He 
was at various times a member of the Boston City 
Government, both in the Common Council and in the 
Board of Aldermen. He was a member of that Board 
when President Polk visited Boston in 1847, and took 
a prominent part in the ceremony of his reception by 
the city. At another time, when he was visiting Eng- 
land, Daniel Webster, Secretary of State, made him 
the official bearer of dispatches to the British Govern- 
ment. His father, Samuel Parker, born in Ports- 
mouth, New Hampshire, in 1744, of a family estab- 
lished there since the previous century, embodied 





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'A 

Pi 

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Ph m 

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o 



1858-1877} BEGINNINGS 5 

notably the close relations between New and Old Eng- 
land. Graduated from Harvard College in 1763, he 
was ordained a priest of the Anglican Church, in 
London, eleven years later, and served as rector of 
Trinity Church, Boston, for more than thirty years. 
At the time of the Revolution he was a Royalist, and 
offered to resign his parish when the other Royahsts 
left it. His people wished him to remain, on the con- 
dition of omitting the prayer for the King from his 
reading of the service — which he did, holding his post 
as the only Church of England clergyman in Massa- 
chusetts throughout the Revolution. In 1804* he was 
consecrated Bishop of Massachusetts, but died be- 
fore the end of the year, less than three months after 
entering the episcopate. Through the forbears and 
descendants of Bishop Parker, the New England 
family relationships of George Meyer were extensive 
and representative. 

The home of his family in Boston was at No. 
194, Beacon Street. Like many youths of his time 
and place, he was prepared at the local private school 
of Mr. G. W. C. Noble for Harvard College, which 
he entered, in 1875, with the Class of 1879. The first 
decade of President Ehot's long administration of 
the College ended with the graduation of Meyer's 
class, which was among the earliest to profit by that 
extension of the " elective system " in which Harvard, 
under its young President, had become the pioneer. 
It must be said frankly that the electives Meyer chose 
bore no special relation to his later interests, and that 
his record in scholarship was not one concerning 



6 GEORGE VON L. MEYER usss-mi 

which a biographer can play the morahst and say 
that it clearly foreshadowed his maturer powers 
of application and acquisition; for it did not. If 
any inferences are to be drawn, they must be such 
as go to strengthen the behef that college stand- 
ing is after all a fallible index of later success in 
affairs. 

The College, however, afforded hini a medium for 
the lifelong expression of a loyalty that was charac- 
teristic of him in a variety of relations. His class and 
his college club, the A.D., of which he became 
Graduate President, held his devotion always. To the 
University itself, he was the donor, only twelve years 
after graduation, of the Meyer Gate, erected, in 1891, 
one year after the first of the beautiful entrances to 
the College Yard, the Johnston Gate, was built. 
While Ambassador to Italy and to Russia, in later 
years, he enriched the College Library with books 
purchased in those countries. In 1911 the University 
conferred the degree of LL.D. upon him. In the 
same year the Alumni elected him to the Board of 
Overseers, of which his fellow-members chose him, in 
1914, to be President. He was thus of that company 
of " Harvard men " who are so defined because they 
have not let the University do more for them than they 
have done for it. 

In the summer of 1878, between his junior and 
senior years in college, George Meyer had his first 
experience of Europe, accompanying his father to 
Carlsbad, seeing something of the Rhine, London, and 
Paris, and establisliing the basis of that knowledge 



i858-i8m BEGINNINGS T 

of foreign lands and peoples which played so impor- 
tant a part in his completed education. 

An illuminating bit of reminiscence of his college 
life is preserved in a letter written by another Har- 
vard man, of a slightly earlier class :^ "The late 
George Meyer's record of successful achievement 
. . . was no matter of chance success or favouritism, 
but one illustrating in marked degree the words of 
Disraeli, ' The secret of success is constancy to pur- 
pose.' This is well exemplified by an interesting inci- 
dent during his college days, well remembered by a 
near contemporary at Harvard. In the days when 
house crews were in vogue on the Charles, being a 
dweller in Matthews, young Meyer felt a desire to 
row, and so, with an innate will to accomplish his pur- 
pose, he presented himself at the boathouse as a candi- 
date for the Matthews dormitory crew, and, although 
a light man comparatively, won a seat in the boat, was 
tried at stroke, a position in which he made good, was 
elected captain, and won his race! 

" This trait was later dominant throughout his 
political and diplomatic career : ' making good ' in 
whatever he set out to accomplish." 

The mere fact recorded here is doubly significant. 
It illustrated Meyer's early addiction to what has been 
well called "the habit of victory"; and it speaks for 
a devotion to sports and games of many kinds in which 
he maintained the interest, and the skill, of a young 



1 F. S. Sturgis, in the Harvard Alumni Bulletin, March 28, 1918. The 
letter does not refer to the fact that Meyer rowed also Number 2 in the 
winning senior Class Crew of 1879. 



/ 



8 GEORGE VON L. MEYER usss-isiy 

man to the end of his busy life. He succeeded as an 
oarsman in college just as in later years he established 
and held his superiority in the other outdoor pursuits 
in which he afterwards engaged : horsemanship, — driv- 
ing, polo, and hunting, — tennis, golf, fishing, skating, 
motoring. When he entered upon a sport, he took it 
seriously enough to make himself a master of it. The 
same may be said of his dealings with the pleasures of 
society, in all their most agreeable forms. The long- 
surviving boy in him — the spirit of the college senior 
and the young man of the world — gave him a zest in 
their enjoyment which men who lose it earlier could 
not always understand. 

If he took these things seriously, however, his 
clear, cool head never failed him in keeping them 
in their true relation to the other and more seri- 
ous interests of his life. When he played, he played 
hard; when he worked, he worked hard. Those who 
observed him in one of these pursuits sometimes found 
it difficult to believe that he could be so effective as 
he was in the other. The fact is that he possessed a 
native and trained capacity for keeping things where 
they helonged, and turning each separate concern of 
his life to the best possible account. It was not en- 
tirely within the comprehension of his native Boston 
that the man of society acquires a training in tact, 
savoir faire, and other valuable qualities of immense 
usefulness in public and political life. The trouble is 
that this really valuable technique of human inter- 
course is too often expended chiefly upon trivialities. 
In devoting it both to society and to important affairs, 



iS5s-i877] BEGINNINGS 9 

George Meyer illustrated admirably its larger possi- 
bilities. 

Under the head of " Beginnings " these observa- 
tions may seem premature. They are given in this 
place, however, for the very reason that Meyer's boy- 
hood and younger manhood did not obviously fore- 
shadow his later development. As a matter of fact, 
the seeds of it were planted in his inheritances and his 
earlier years. The years of conspicuous achievement 
may unfold themselves the more intelligibly for this 
attempt to relate them to their origin. 



II 

AFFAIRS AND POLITICS IN BOSTON AND MASSACHUSETTS 

(1879-1900) 

When George Meyer graduated from Harvard in 
1879, twenty-one years old, the Boston of which he 
became a citizen still retained many of the character- 
istics, social, intellectual, and commercial, of the dis- 
tinctive place it had been through the middle years 
of the nineteenth century. The word " metropolitan," 
as applied to its activities of many kinds, had not yet 
taken the place it was to hold even before the present 
day. A vigorous growth in civic and industrial op- 
portunity, rendered possible, in large measure, by the 
astonishing development of electric transportation 
which had come into full swing by the nineties, was 
at hand. It was a fortunate time for a young man 
of energy and ambition to enter upon a career of 
commerce and politics. The tradition of the older 
training which had given the Boston merchants of the 
clipper-ship days their supremacy in commerce was 
still potent. It was the best of training for the con- 
structive work soon to be done in the establishment of 
what is known as modern business. After the day's 
work the young man of gregarious instincts, if for- 
tunately placed in the community, could take recourse 
to the pleasures of a comparatively small and homo- 

10 



1819-1900^ AFFAIRS AND POLITICS 11 

geneous society — limited, if you will, in the scope 
and pace of its enjoyments, when measured by the 
standards of a later day, yet sound in its own stand- 
ards of essential good-breeding. In a word, the place 
afforded an admirable training-ground, both for affairs 
and for human intercourse. 

On quitting college George Meyer entered the 
shipping office of Alpheus H. Hardy & Co., a Bos- 
ton firm engaged chiefly in Mediterranean com- 
merce. It was still a time when young men entered 
such houses, on nominal salaries of $100 or $200 a 
year, simply to acquire a training in business habits 
and methods. This training, one would suppose, 
might naturally have been sought in the shipping office 
of Linder & Meyer, in which his father was estab- 
lished — with East Indian and Russian trade — on 
India Wharf from 1848 to 1878, and afterwards at 
89 State Street, where the business of the firm is still 
conducted. But the young man's course in submitting 
to a control other than parental was wise. When he 
was Secretary of the Navy, an interviewer asked him 
why he " hired out " to a stranger instead of his 
father, and received the answer, " Because I feared I 
might treat my father as a relative and not as an 
employer." His actual employer, Mr. Hardy, found 
in him business qualities which gave assurance of suc- 
cess. A fellow employee bears witness to his willing- 
ness to undertake any task committed to him, and, 
without a suggestion of shirking disagreeable details, 
to do the thing well. If his young associates did not 
foresee how far his capacities of balance, integrity. 



12 GEORGE VON L. MEYER U8t9-mo 

good manners, and shrewd common sense would bear 
him, it was because they did not fully realize what 
these qualities can do for their possessor. 

After two years of this apprenticeship to the work 
of a merchant, he was admitted, in 1881, to partner- 
ship in the firm of Linder & Meyer, of which he re- 
mained a member for the rest of his life. For a few 
years business was his chief concern, and he applied 
himself to its interests with a thoroughness which 
enabled him, after entering politics, to dispatch it 
quickly and accurately, and thus to command the time 
he required for other pursuits. In these early years, 
moreover, he laid the foundations of a well-deserved 
reputation for sagacity and acumen in business mat- 
ters, causing his counsel to be sought and valued in 
enterprises of importance outside the affairs of his 
own firm. While still a young man, he found himself 
associated with many of his elders in the business 
world in the directorship of large corporations. As 
early as 1890 he became a director of the Old Colony 
Trust Company, at its charter meeting, and in 1894 
was elected a director of the Amoskeag Manufactur- 
ing Company. Many other directorships followed in 
due course — in the Ames Plow Company, of which 
he was president, the Puget Sound Traction, Light 
and Power Company, the Fort Hill Chemical Com- 
pany, the Tampa Electric Company, the Walter Baker 
Company, the Provident Institution for Savings, the 
Merchants National Bank. 

On the day following his twenty-seventh birthday, 
June 25, 1885, George Meyer was married at Lenox, 



im-mo^ AFFAIRS AND POLITICS 13 

Massachusetts, to Marian Alice Appleton, a daughter 
of Charles Hook and Isabella (Mason) Appleton, 
of Boston. Through a Cutler ancestor both of 
the Appletons and of Meyer's mother, his wife 
and he were third cousins. The Bostonian with 
only one Boston parent, however, finds his New 
England relationships widely extended when his wife 
is of Boston through both lines of descent. So it 
was with George Meyer. The happy outward con- 
ditions of his marriage through all its years stood 
clear before the world. An open book is not the place 
to say more than that the outward and inward were in 
singular harmony; yet Meyer's truly fortunate domes- 
tic life, his constant, affectionate concern for his wife 
and children, and everything that affected their wel- 
fare, must not pass unmentioned in any comprehen- 
sive account of him. His daughters Julia and Alice, 
now married, respectively, to Signor Giuseppe Bram- 
billa, of Rome, now counsellor of the Italian Embassy 
in London, and Commander Christopher Raymond 
Perry Rodgers, U.S.N., and his third child, the son 
who bears his name, had always in their father the 
truest friend, counsellor, and comrade. 

A friend of George Meyer's has said that he first 
came into prominence on horseback. Without at- 
tempting to establish points of precise order in time, 
it may indeed be said that his early association with 
the Myopia Hunt Club, permanently established at 
Hamilton in Essex County in 1891, ten years after 
its origin at Winchester, near Boston, served to bring 
his excellent horsemanship to the notice of that con- 



14 GEORGE VON L. MEYER usi^-i^oo 

siderable portion of the public which is interested in 
manly sports. What the Meadowbrook Club was to 
New York in the early days of hunting and polo, the 
Myopia was to Boston; and Meyer's prowess as a 
poio-player before the game had established itself 
more generally afforded one of the instances, to be 
found in the eighties and nineties, of young men dis- 
playing on a field of sport the qualities which made 
good cavalry officers in the Civil War out of men in 
the next older generation, and good aviators or 
artillerymen, let us say, of the " officer material " in 
the war of our own day. Spirited young men of every 
generation have a way of proving themselves — often 
to the surprise of their elders — capable of a dash 
and daring to which the Hfe of a city gives no natural 
expression. George Meyer belonged to this class. 

The Myopia Hunt Club, once settled at Hamilton, 
played an important part in making its neighbourhood 
in Essex County a centre of agreeable country life 
of a type then little known in America. Boston fam- 
ilies, especially of the younger generation, were be- 
ginning to take up farms in the vicinity, and to live 
on them for the greater part of the year. Hunting, 
riding, and other sports occupied much of their time. 
Altogether the life bore a closer resemblance to that 
of the county families of England than to the cold 
and scrambling existence which the early settlers of 
Essex County, including in more than one instance the 
progenitors of the modern Hamiltonians, led on the 
same rolling farm-lands. But the new settlers were 
also pioneers in their way — with many advantages of 



1819-1900} AFFAIRS AND POLITICS 15 

circumstance in their favour; and it needed a certain 
vigour and hardihood of nature, perhaps of Puritan 
derivation, to meet the new conditions, vi^ithout suc- 
cumbing to them and permitting the enjoyment of hfe 
to defeat its own ends through becoming the primary 
instead of the secondary thing. 

George Meyer and his family became a part, a vital 
part, of all this pleasant life. As early as 1890 he ac- 
quired " Rock Maple Farm " at Hamilton, which later 
became his legal residence. His interest in this country 
place, the improvement of its grounds and buildings, 
including, near the end of his life, even the removal of 
the enlarged house upon it from the bottom to the top 
of a hill, was an interest that never failed, whether he 
was at home, abroad, or in Washington. Its concerns 
were constantly cropping out in his correspondence. 
His identification with the life of the region was typi- 
fied by his presidency of the Myopia Hunt Club for a 
number of years, beginning with 1893, the first year 
in which a president was elected. Before 1893 he had 
served as treasurer and one of the stewards of the club. 
A member of it, by the way, has said that, when Meyer 
became its president and proposed to do various things 
for its betterment, nobody thought he could bring them 
to pass; but he did. Wise rules of membership were 
adopted; golf was introduced in 1894; and the peace 
was kept amongst intensely interested Myopians of 
divergent views on matters of club policy. All this 
was related to Meyer's principle of the "joy in the 
doing," and his capacity to keep things in their true 
places. The country gentleman riding to the hounds. 



16 GEORGE VON L. MEYER usio-im 

— with much success and the usual mishaps, — playing 
polo, and amusing himself in many other ways, culti- 
vating flowers, acquiring tapestries and rare china, 
kept a perfectly clear distinction in his own mind be- 
tween the pursuits of vocation and avocation which, in 
many persons situated as he was, get themselves con- 
fused. If he had not, as a sportsman and a lover of 
the beauties and amenities of life, so thoroughly en- 
joyed his avocations, they might almost have been 
regarded as deliberate means to an end, for they did 
serve a constant, valuable purpose of health and re- 
freshment. In reality, they merely embodied his concep- 
tion of one portion of a well-rounded existence, and thus 
acquired a dignity of their own in his scheme of life. 
There has been no attempt in the preceding pages 
to observe a strict chronological sequence in the affairs 
of Meyer's life. The aim has been rather to establish 
the background against which the public services with 
which most of this book must deal are to be followed. 
His place as a member of the community to which he 
belonged has been set forth in some detail. The posi- 
tion which he rapidly made for himself in the conduct 
of large business affairs has been indicated. At the 
end of about the first decade of his business life, how- 
ever, he began to add to its interests those of local 
politics, beginning on the lowest rungs of the ladder, 
and mounting steadily. Nearly an even quarter- 
century passed between his becoming a member of a 
Repubhcan ward committee in the City of Boston and 
his retirement, in 1913, from the post of Secretary of 
the Navy. It was a political career in which advance- 



1819-1900^ AFFAIRS AND POLITICS 17 

merit came — as it must if it is to be justified — through 
hard work, joined with the double abihty to recognize 
an opportunity when it arose, and then to make 
effective use of it. When the results of such a course 
bear the outward appearance of good fortune, it is 
well to remember that this fortune is generally among 
the inward gifts of the man who profits by it. 

Two statements by George Meyer himself with 
regard to the obligations and opportunities in politics 
for the educated and fortunately placed young man 
may appropriately be given at this point. The first 
of them is found in a letter, written April 12, 1890, 
to the Secretary of the Harvard Class of 1879, printed 
in the Class Report of 1890, and reading as follows: — 

A year ago last fall I was elected a member of the Com- 
mon Council of the City of Boston on the Republican ticket. 
This last fall received a reelection as a member of the city gov- 
ernment, and am now serving my second year in the Council, 
Last year the body was Democratic by a small majority, while 
this year it is Republican by a good working majority. The 
matter of municipal government should receive special atten- 
tion from Harvard graduates and every citizen living in the 
large cities. The administrations of many of our large cities 
have acquired an unenviable reputation in this country and 
abroad. This can only be remedied by the better class of citi- 
zens generally taking an active part in their city politics, not 
only by voting on election day, but by attending regularly the 
primaries and caucuses and insisting on the proper candidate 
being nominated. Without attention to these matters, " Things 
alter for the worse spontaneously unless altered for the better 
designedly." 



18 GEORGE VON L. MEYER \i8i9-mo 

The second statement appears in an interview with 
a representative of the Boston Herald while Meyer 
was a member of President Taft's Cabinet. When 
asked his opinion of the political chances for the well- 
to-do, educated young American, he replied : — 

Most assuredly such young men should take part in 
politics. Those youths who are not dependent upon their own 
efforts for their daily bread, and who have had the advantages 
of a good education, are under special obligation to the public. 
It is doubly incumbent upon them to give the best that is in 
them toward the study and solution of civic problems, which 
in every generation and in every twelfth month come to the 
fore. 

Once they demonstrate an absolutely disinterested motive, 
learn to say " no " to the importunities of influential friends, 
and prove their willingness to serve the people, the doors of 
political opportunity are wide open for them. 

It is well that this is so in our country. I saw it forcefully 
illustrated in Italy. Influential young men were a great power 
in bringing about the union of Italy. But the Constitution of 
1848 prescribed thirty-five years as the minimum age at which 
one could become a member of Parliament. The Italian 
" patriots " were young men. With this restriction of par- 
liamentary service, the young men, who ought to have con- 
tinued in active service, began to fall out. 

Cut off the opportunity for wealthy and educated young 
men to get into politics and they spend their time at the clubs. 
They acquire habits of ease, after which there is less and less 
inclination, as the years go by, to assume public duties. 

George Meyer was fortunately " caught young " in 
pohtics. He began and continued to the end, a " regu- 



1879-1900] AFFAIRS AND POLITICS 19 

lar " Republican. The strong " Mugwump " sentiment 
in Boston attending and following the first election 
of President Cleveland — strongest in the very portion 
of the community to which Meyer belonged — did 
not concern itself so much with local as with national 
politics, and Republican candidates for office in nat- 
urally Repubhcan wards and districts encountered 
little serious opposition. From the time of his mar- 
riage, Meyer's place of residence in Boston was at 54, 
Beacon Street, the home of his wife's father and grand- 
father, one of the beautiful pair of twin houses of 
which the historian Prescott had occupied the other. 
It lay in what was the Ninth Ward through the period 
of Meyer's active participation in local politics. This 
was sometimes called the " pepper-and-salt ward," by 
reason of its admixture of white and coloured voters, 
the first living on Beacon Street and the nearer 
parallel streets of Beacon Hill, the second then settled 
in large numbers on the northerly slopes of that 
eminence. 

So diverse a constituency called for tactful repre- 
sentation. " Ivid-gloved " and " silk-stockinged " as- 
pirants for election could not expect to prevail with- 
out persuading the voters that they possessed other 
qualifications for office than a mere desire for it, on 
whatever grounds. In caucuses, and especially in the 
service of the ward committee, they were obliged to 
prove themselves. It was necessary to demonstrate, 
not only your willingness to work as a member of the 
party organization, but also your standing, on ele- 
mental human terms, as a " good fellow." The 



20 GEORGE yon L. MEYER U8i9-mo 

spurious in these regards could not long pass current. 
Meyer became a member of the Ninth Ward Republi- 
can Committee, won his nomination in the autumn of 
1888 for the Common Council of the City Government, 
as then constituted, and was duly elected. 

During his connection with the Boston City Coun- 
cil he served on its Finance Committee, and the Com- 
mittees on Water, on Laying Out and Widening 
Streets, on the Charles River Bridges. His third elec- 
tion, in the autumn of 1890, was to the upper chamber 
of the City Government, the Board of Aldermen, on 
which, for the following year, he represented the 
Fourth of the ten aldermanic districts into which Bos- 
ton was then divided. Apart from his other service 
on this Board, he was a member of its important 
Finance Committee, which was entrusted with making 
virtually all appropriations for city expenditures. To 
all this work at City Hall he brought the sound busi- 
ness training which he had been rapidly acquiring in 
State Street; and from it he carried away an expe- 
rience in parliamentary, legislative, and administrative 
matters which was soon to serve him well. 

Political advancement in Boston and in Massa- 
chusetts, as elsewhere, is in general an orderly process, 
passing from recognized step to step. After the City 
Government comes the State Government; the State 
House follows naturally upon City Hall. After his 
year in the Board of Aldermen Meyer accordingly 
offered himself as a Republican candidate for Repre- 
sentative in the General Court of Massachusetts from 
the Ninth District of Suffolk County, corresponding 



1819-1900-i AFFAIRS AND POLITICS 21 

with Ward 9 of Boston. In the State election of 1891 
he was chosen, by his old constituency, to this office, 
and was reelected in the four successive years, serving 
in the five Legislatures of 1892 to 1896, inclusive. In 
his first two years on Beacon Hill he appeared rather 
as a faithful and efficient than as a conspicuous mem- 
ber of the House. He counted for more in work on 
committees than in speaking from the floor. When 
he became a candidate for the Speakership, at the be- 
ginning of his third term, even his friends therefore 
were somewhat surprised. As on other occasions, they 
hardly believed he could accomphsh his purpose; but 
again he did, and with a success that may fairly be 
called notable. His election was brought to pass, not 
by his own possession of the " hail-fellow-well-met " 
qualities of the politician which are supposed to make 
for popularity, but rather through his having estab- 
lished himself quietly in the friendship and confidence 
of the more thoughtful and influential members of the 
House, whose good opinion was of positive weight. 
Once elected to the guidance of a body fully alive to 
the fact that the legislation of Massachusetts often 
exerts an influence far beyond the boundaries of the 
State, he bore himself in a manner worthy of the best 
traditions of the Speakership. 

To Meyer's own training of himself in the practice 
of public speech must be ascribed a large measure of 
the success he attained in this necessary function of a 
man in public life. About ten years after his occu- 
pancy of the Massachusetts Speakership, he wrote 
from Russia to his son — apropos of a debate at Gro- 



22 GEORGE VON L. MEYER usio-mo^ 

ton School for which the boy was preparing himself — 
a letter which at this point serves an autobiographical I 
purpose : — 

I am very much interested that debating is going to begin,, 
and I want to give you a few hints which I think will be of ' 
great assistance to you, from my own experience. Unfor- ■ 
tunately I never took it up until I was about thirty, and there- ■ 
fore it came much harder. The great secret is to learn to be: 
able to think on your feet ; therefore in order to bring about ; 
that result do not write out what you are going to say and 
commit it to memory, for the following reasons : — 

1. Because it defeats the main object of thinking and! 
arguing on your feet while you are talking. 

2. It makes one nervous, fearing one may forget what, 
one has committed to memory, and consequently hampers one. 

The main thing before the debate takes place is to read 
up sufficiently to be familiar with the subject, take a few notes i 
of the points which you want to make, then arrange them im 
consecutive order. After you have done that, sit down, or' 
stand up, either, and think out in your own mind what you 
want to say. If you find some points you don't express in your • 
own mind clearly, work out that sentence, writing it if neces- 
sary, till you have your point clearly made. But do not try 
to commit the exact words to memory. After you have done ■ 
this two or three times, you will be quite familiar with your' 
subject and have gained confidence in yourself, which is the' 
great object before you go into a debate. Try to arrange the 
arguments in your mind so that one will suggest the other, as 
you are debating. I think if you will follow out these ideas 
you will find it not only of assistance but most interesting, and I 
in time you will be able to enter into these debates without 
much, if any, nervousness, if you will follow out conscientiously 
my suggestions. 



1819-1900^ AFFAIRS AND POLITICS 23 

At the conclusion of his third and last year in the 
Speaker's chair, his fellow-members of the Legislature, 
on June 9, 1896, passed a resolution of thanks to their 
presiding officer, made and heard a number of lauda- 
tory speeches seconding the resolution, and presented 
him with a loving cup. On occasions of this nature 
terms of eulogy are to be expected; but when one of 
the speakers is a man whose words are well known to 
mean precisely what they say, it is worth while to heed 
and recall them. The late Francis C. Lowell, then 
representing the Eleventh Suffolk District, and after- 
wards Judge of the United States Circuit Court, 
spoke as follows : — 

Between seven and eight years ago I entered upon the 
public service at the same time and in the same office with the 
gentleman who has been Speaker of this House for the last 
three years, in the Common Council of the City of Boston. And 
highly as the friends of that gentleman then respected him, I 
doubt if all of them then anticipated the success which he has 
so honourably won in public life. That has been won, I believe, 
in the first place, by untiring patience and industry ; in the 
second place, by perfect independence and wise judgment and 
a firm hold to honest convictions ; and, in the third place, by a 
courtesy to all opponents, which has made any difference what 
it should be — a difference of principles and not a personal 
matter. 

What success these qualities have shown in that Chair, 
every member of this House knows better than my words can 
say. The Speaker is the keeper of the traditions of this 
House. Those traditions are honoured. But on the floor of 
this House there are often times of hard conflict ; there are 
often times when men of one side or the other, in the temper 



24 GEORGE VON L. MEYER ri879-i900 

of controversy, think but little of those traditions and strain 
every nerve for success. Proper decision can be reached on 
those occasions only, I believe, when that Chair is removed and 
is above the waves of controversy. That is what we have known 
here this year. However grandly and bravely we might fight 
on the floor, we have known that there was an umpire in that 
Chair whose decisions would in no sense be affected by hisi 
feelings. I attribute the good temper that has invariably 
characterized the proceedings of this House to the absolutes 
faith of its members that they would receive fairness from its> 
presiding officer. 

I believe that the gentleman who has presided over us this 
year has maintained to the full the honourable traditions of the 
best of his predecessors, and has set an example which his suc- 
cessors will do well to emulate. I do not know whether the 
gentleman has political ambitions for the future. I believe 
he has. But far more important than that, I know this — that 
the Commonwealth cannot afford to lose the future services 
of the man who has served her so well as he has done in the 
past eight years. 

In a private letter another fellow-worker with 
Meyer in the Massachusetts Legislature, the Hon. S. 
W. McCall, whose opportunities to observe him were 
often renewed in later years, has written : — 

The quality in his mind that struck me was its direct- 
ness. He faced a situation clearly, and when he had reached 
a conclusion to his satisfaction he adhered to it, and was 
usually able by his clearness to make others see the thing as 
he saw it. His manner helped him greatly. There was noth- 
ing over-assertive or dictatorial, but while firm, he was per- 
suasive and willing to give due weight to the opinions of others. 



1819-1900^ AFFAIRS AND POLITICS 25 

I recall especially a visit of his to Washington when the cur- 
rency was in issue. He was clear-cut for gold and opposed 
to any compromise upon it, and yet he made no noise about it 
but convinced you that he had an opinion and gave good 
reasons for it. 



The general spirit and results of Meyer's work as 
a member and Speaker of the Massachusetts House of 
Representatives are fairly indicated by these contempo- 
raneous and more recent expressions. For the details 
of that work it is enough to give a brief summary of 
some of the legislation with the advocacy of which he 
was specially associated. As Chairman of the Com- 
mittee on Railroads he introduced a bill compelling 
railroads and quasi-public corporations to offer stock 
to their stockholders at a fair market price, when the 
stock was selling at a high premium. He took an 
active part in urging that municipal bonds be free 
from taxation, in order that they might be issued at a 
lower rate of interest and, therefore, at a saving to 
the community. He was instrumental in securing 
legislation which preserved the present State House, 
and was Chairman of the Commission which placed 
the front of the State House in a fireproof condition 
— a piece of work the more remarkable for being 
accomplished within the appropriation for it. He was 
one of the active instruments in securing the passage 
of the first subway bill. He favoured measures pro- 
viding for proper payment to the municipality of 
Boston by transportation companies holding franchises 
granting the use of streets. While Speaker, he secured 



26 GEORGE VON L. MEYER U879-i900 

the passage of a resolution directing him to appear 
before the House Committee on Rivers and Harbours 
in Washington, which resulted in an appropriation for 
the establishment of a 35-foot channel in Boston Har- 
bour. In all of these measures the future — now the 
present — well-being of his city and state were inti- 
mately involved. Many of them had to do with finan- 
cial and commercial improvements, of which the results 
do not clearly appear on the surface of things. A 
strong title to general remembrance in Boston, on the 
other hand, lies in his having borne an effective part in 
the preservation of the " Bulfinch front " of the Massa- 
chusetts State House. 

It was when Meyer retired from the Massa- 
chusetts Legislature in 1896 that he established his 
legal residence at Hamilton in Essex County. For 
the next few years his business interests occupied most 
of his working hours. The winter of 1897 he spent 
abroad with his family, at Paris and Pau. In 1898 
Governor Wolcott appointed him Chairman of the 
Massachusetts Paris Exposition Managers. In the 
same year he was chosen a member of the Republican 
National Committee for Massachusetts, a position 
which he held, with special success in the important 
function of raising campaign funds, until 1904. At 
home he served his party as a member of the Republi- 
can State Central Committee, and President of the 
Essex Club, a political organization in the county 
which had become his home. In public discussions of 
national politics he appeared as a well-informed de- 
fender of the principles of sound money and the gold 



1879-1900} AFFAIRS AND POLITICS 27 

standard as against the free-silver agitations of Mr. 
Bryan. In the capacity of a private citizen, during 
the final years of the nineties, he was thus serving the 
public in a variety of ways through the service of the 
party in which he so strongly believed. 

As a person of consequence in the Republican 
counsels, he was present at the party convention at 
Philadelphia in 1900, when Theodore Roosevelt, of 
the class next below his own at Harvard, was nomi- 
nated for the vice-presidency. An authentic anecdote 
of that occasion should be recorded. The story goes 
that while Roosevelt, then Governor of New York, 
and reluctant to gratify the party managers in their 
attempt to force comparative obscurity upon him, was 
discussing the matter with Senator Penrose and Gen- 
eral Bingham of Pennsylvania, he called George 
Meyer into the conference, and asked his advice. 
"They're trying to bury you," was Meyer's reply; 
" but, with your luck, they won't be able to do it, 
and I advise you to accept the nomination." The 
sequel is history. 

To Meyer also, soon after this, came the necessity 
of making a decision of important bearing upon his 
subsequent career. In the early days of his residence 
in Essex County the Sixth Congressional District of 
Massachusetts was represented at Washington by the 
late William H. Moody. Before the expiration of his 
term Mr. Moody resigned his seat in order to become 
Secretary of the Navy, from which post he passed to 
those of Attorney-General and Justice of the Supreme 
Court of the United States. The Republican nominee 



28 GEORGE von L. MEYER u^t^-i^oo 

for the vacant place in Congi*ess was virtually certain 
of election. Meyer had deserved so well of his party, 
and withal had shown himself so competent a public 
servant, that his nomination and election as a Con- 
gressman from Massachusetts, at a fitting opportunity, 
would have seemed a natural forward step, on both 
political and personal grounds. But another candidate 
was in the field, in the person of the late Augustus 
Peabody Gardner, also a Boston settler in Essex 
County, whose service of two terms in the Massachu- 
setts Senate after Meyer's retirement from the Gen- 
eral Court had prepared him for political promotion. 
The time had not come for an active contest for 
this nomination when Meyer received from President 
McKinley, through a message delivered in person by 
Senator Hoar at Hamilton in the summer of 1900, 
an offer of the ambassadorship to Italy. The latest 
occupant of the post had been a Massachusetts man. 
General William F. Draper. It had been offered to 
another son of the same state, Governor Roger Wol- 
cott, while he was abroad for several months beginning 
in May, 1900; but private considerations had led him 
to decline it, and his untimely death occurred before 
the end of the year. It was a post of high dignity and 
trust; but in deciding to accept it, Meyer must have 
asked himself seriously whether a seat in Congress 
might not afford an apter scope for his capacities, and 
might therefore be worth awaiting and contesting. A 
public servant who worked in close association with 
him some years later has said that Meyer possessed 
the best snap judgment of any man he ever en- 



1879-1900} AFFAIRS AND POLITICS 29 

countered. In the case of the ambassadorship first 
thoughts could be followed by second; and the upshot 
of them was that he accepted the President's offer. If 
he had felt that he had made any mistake, he would 
doubtless have yielded, more than a year later, to the 
solicitation of political friends in Massachusetts who 
urged his return from Italy to engage in the actual 
contest for the Congressional nomination. His later 
decision merely confirmed the earlier, and the event 
abundantly proved the wisdom of both. 



Ill 

AMBASSADOR TO ITALY 

(1900-1905) 

Meyer's appointment to the Italian ambassadorship 
was confirmed by the United States Senate, December 
14, 1900. On January 5, 1901, he sailed from New 
York with his wife and children, and his sister, Miss 
Heloise Meyer, on the Fiirst Bismarck for Italy. 

It was at this time that he began a practice which 
cannot be too highly commended to men whose con- 
tacts with persons and events of consequence are 
such as to give possible future occasion for a record 
of their own lives — the practice of keeping a diary. 
For approximately nine years he did this, without any 
considerable intermissions. The journal bears none of 
the marks of having been written for any purpose 
but that of keeping within reach of the writer's mem- 
ory the experiences through which he passed. Many 
of the notes have to do merely with passing occur- 
rences, "pleasures and palaces," dinners, balls, hunts, 
shooting, and fishing parties, the many activities of 
society in brilliant courts and capitals. But there 
are also many passages relating to affairs of more 
general interest, to conversations with monarchs and 
other rulers of men, to memorable scenes. Hastily 
pencilled and unrevised as they were, they possess a 

30 



1901} AMBASSADOR TO ITALY 31 

distinctive quality of faithfulness, of authenticity, so 
that a reader of them is convinced that the actual facts 
of the matter recorded are spread before him. If 
King or Kaiser is set down as saying thus and so, one 
rests assured that the report is accurate. Just as one 
recognizes true " local colour " in pieces of fiction, 
even without any first-hand knowledge of the local 
background, so the diaries of George Meyer justify 
themselves as remarkably authentic chronicles. In 
this and succeeding chapters they will therefore be 
freely used, not only as records of his own life, but 
for the revealing light they throw upon personalities 
and circumstances which in recent years have acquired 
an historic importance quite unforeseen when the pres- 
ent century began. From time to time the narrative 
will be supplemented by letters to official friends in 
the American Government and to members of his 
family. 

On the night before the Meyers sailed from New 
York, some twenty New York and Boston friends 
gathered at Sherry's for a farewell dinner to Mr. and 
Mrs. Meyer, given by Mr. Charles F. McKim, the 
architect, whose wife had been a sister of Mrs. Meyer. 
Appropriate words were spoken, and scenes of Rome 
soon to become familiar to the guests of honour were 
shown by magic lantern, besides ingenious views of 
the travellers themselves on their journey. The pro- 
pitious start was followed by a good passage, via the 
Azores, Gibraltar, and Genoa, to Naples. Here the 
first day on Itahan soil ended unfortunately. Let the 
diary describe it. 



32 GEORGE von L. MEYER ^^^^^ 

''January 18, i^^i. — Arrived at Naples early. 
We all got on deck to see the sun rise as we sailed into 
the Bay of Naples, and we were much repaid — a 
magnificent sight. Vesuvius coughed and puffed out 
smoke soon after the sun rose. Met by Iddings/ First 
Secretary of the Embassy. Proceed to the Grand 
Hotel to lunch. In the afternon Alice, Helo, and self 
drive to Pompeii; much impressed by the preservation 
of the streets, houses, stucco, etc. It kills time and 
space, and brings one's imagination vividly back. 

"Ill all night — fish poison. Beware of fish in 
Naples!" 

Suffering grievously from ptomaine poisoning, the 
new ambassador pushed on to Rome the next day, too 
ill even to speak to American friends who, with the 
entire staff of the Embassy, met him and his family 
at the station. There were comfortable rooms ready 
for them at the Grand Hotel, and here, with good 
medical and nursing care immediately summoned, Mr. 
Meyer regained sufficient strength in little more than 
a week to take his first walk abroad. Even before 
this he must have realized that he was in a friendly 
land, for on January 23 he had occasion to write in 
his diary: "Thanked the King for the boar which he 
had sent me and had killed himself." 

The formalities of presenting credentials at the 
Foreign Office, and seeking and obtaining a first audi- 
ence with the King, were soon performed. Two days 
before this audience Mr. and Mrs. Meyer attended 
the memorial service at All Saints (Enghsh) Church 

iMr. Lewis Morris Iddings. 



19011 AMBASSADOR TO ITALY 33 

in Rome, marking the day, February 2, appointed 
for the funeral of Queen Victoria; and he wrote in his 
diary: "Lady Currie, English Ambassadress, thanked 
me in person for attending, it being my first appear- 
ance since my illness." 

On February 4 came the audience with King Victor 
Emmanuel III. From the brief description of it in 
the journal of that day it is enough to transcribe, 
" The King desired to know if the Philippines were to 
be our Transvaal, and how many troops we had in 
China; we also talked about game and the preservation 
of forests." 

More than two years later Meyer made a record 
in his diary which deals with his introduction to the 
Italian court more adequately than the jottings at 
the immediate time. Thus it runs : — 

"Mai/ 30, 1903. — At the request of the State De- 
partment I reported the formalities for a new Am- 
bassador. On my arrival in Rome (January, 1901) 
I was obliged to take an apartment in the Grand 
Hotel, as the palace which had been occupied by my 
predecessors, Palazzo Piombino, had been purchased 
by the King as a residence for the Queen Mother. 

" Having informed the Minister of Foreign Af- 
fairs [Visconti Venosta] of my arrival, I asked 
for an audience with the King. Due de Fraginito, a 
Master of Ceremonies, called and notified me that the 
King would see me the following day at 1 o'clock. 
Two Royal state carriages with outriders in scarlet 
were sent to convey me to the Palazzo Reale (Quiri- 
nal) ; in the first, myself and Count Bruschi Falgari, a 



34 



GEORGE VON L. MEYER t^^^^ 



Master of Ceremonies; in the second, my Secretaries. 
Instructed to appear in uniform — for the American 
Ambassador, evening dress. The Ambassador at his 
first reception by the King is received with formality 
and full official ceremony. Met at the foot of the 
stairs by Due de Fraginito. In the anticamera the 
King's guard were drawn up — all over six feet. In 
the adjoining grand salon the King's household, all 
in full uniform, were presented to me by the prefet 
of the palace. Count Gianotti, and then I was re- 
ceived in the throne-room by His Majesty the King. 
Before taking my leave I presented my Secre- 
taries. 

" It is customary for every Ambassador to send 
500 lira gratuities to the Royal Stable and lackeys 
on the occasion of the first presentation. 

" England, Germany, France, Russia, Austria, 
Spain, and Turkey all have their permanent residencies 
for the Embassies. I should have been much incon- 
venienced at not having a house at my disposal, but 
for the fact that, the Court being in mourning for 
King Humbert, I was not called upon to give my 
Ricevimento the first season. It was important to find 
a palace sufficiently large for the first formal reception 
and in keeping with the scale which had already been 
established by my predecessors, and at the same time 
to bear favourable comparison with the Embassies of 
other countries. (The Italians are much affected by 
appearances.) Moved into Palazzo Brancaccio end 
of April, 1901. January, 1902, gave my Ricevi- 
mento. The list must first be submitted to the prefet 



imi AMBASSADOR TO ITALY 35 

of the Palace, as it is a Court function for which two 
Masters of Ceremony are sent by the King to present 
the guests to the Ambassador and his wife. The list 
is confined to the members of the Court and such per- 
sons from other countries as have been presented at 
Court in Rome. The ceremony commences promptly 
at 10 and finishes at midnight. There is never 
dancing, but an elaborate supper. The officials and 
diplomats are expected to appear in full uniform. 
The entrance of the Palace and the streets adjoining 
on the night of the entertainment are guarded by a 
detachment of Municipal Guards. One guard is 
always assigned to each Embassy day and night." 

The initial formalities dispatched, a place of resi- 
dence suitable to the mode of life which the new 
Ambassador was prepared to adopt in Rome became 
an immediate object of search. It was found in the 
Palazzo Brancaccio, a modern dwelling built by the 
late Hickson Field of New York for his daughter, 
who had married Prince Brancaccio. The first and 
second floors of this palace, somewhat forbidding in 
its exterior but beautiful and spacious within, were 
taken by the Meyers. The lack of bathrooms in such 
a house hardly comported with American ideas of 
comfort; yet the sense of beauty received its compen- 
sating stimulus in the charming gardens of the Palace, 
with the Colosseum at their foot. Of these Mr. Meyer 
secured the use during his tenancy. Altogether the 
scene was one which lent itself admirably to the pur- 
poses of an Ambassador. 



36 GEORGE VON L. MEYER f^^^^ 

It could not be occupied at once, but on May 17, 
1901, Meyer wrote in his diary: " Move into Bran- 
caccio Palace and we are all glad to leave the hotel 
and get to our own appartement. The garden is per* 
fectly beautiful, with green grass, fountains, palm 
trees, flowering shrubs, and the most beautiful roses 
growing profusely. We dine in our dining-room and 
enjoy a meal from our own chef." On the next day 
he wrote of the interior arrangements : " The apparte- 
ment is most extensive and on a grand scale, with a 
fine and impressive staircase which opens into a hall; 
then a small reception room, my den, after that two 
large reception rooms, with ball-room beyond as 
large as Papanti's in Boston. Facing the garden is 
the dining-room, larger red room, conservatory, small 
sitting-room, small library, and larger living-room. 
On floor above, eight bed-rooms." 

The diary in its completeness for the next four 
years would contribute many items to the personal 
records of Roman society for this period. The names 
of many sharers in the pleasures of that society, 
Italians, Europeans of other countries, and Americans, 
appear and reappear in its pages. Dinners, bridge, 
and other occasions for informal meetings with the 
diplomatic circle remind one that statecraft was always 
in the background. Days of work at the Embassy, 
letters to Washington, dealing with occasional inter- 
national questions arising between Italy and the 
United States, receive their share of record. It was 
rather as a " listening-post " in the European world 
than as a station for difficult work in diplomacy that 



mn AMBASSADOR TO ITALY 37 

Rome gave Meyer his opportunities for valuable 
service through the four years of his ambassadorship; 
and in establishing many relations of intimacy and 
friendship, he was constantly turning the pleasant life 
he led to valuable purposes of his own government. 
It is thus, indeed, that diplomats may often serve their 
countries best in times of peace in the world. There 
is no better way of coming to know men than by 
playing with them ; and if Meyer had not been capable 
of the all-round sportsmanship which made him so 
welcome a companion to the spirited young men of 
whom the Italian King and his cousins were the con- 
spicuous types, the useful knowledge of Italian and 
European affairs which he could acquire, as it were, 
" in passing," would have been appreciably less. All 
this appears, without intention, in the diary. 

He had been in Rome less than a month when he 
noted in his journal, February 14, his first ride with 
the hounds, on borrowed mounts, on the Campagna. 
The next day he bought a hunter of his own, " Good 
Luck," from the Master of the Hounds ; and ten days 
later recorded a large turn-out at the hunt: "Had 
a good run; the first big stone wall stopped the field; 
six of us got over and I got the brush." His enjoy- 
ment of the hunt at Rome finds many records in his 
journal. 

So, in the early days of his ambassadorship, did 
his pleasure in the motor-car with which he supple- 
mented his Roman stable. Addressing the Essex 
Agricultural Society at its annual meeting in 1897, 
he had spoken of the automobile in terms which sound 



38 GEORGE von L. MEYER t^^^^ 

to-day archaic, but are good to recall as a reminder 
of the strangeness of the new vehicles hardly more 
than twenty years ago. " I venture to predict," he 
said, " that some of us here to-day will Hve to see the 
time when it will be as rare to see carriages drawn by 
horses as it is at present to see street cars drawn by 
horses." That time had not come when Meyer went 
to Rome, and the uses of the automobile were not 
appreciated even by those who might easily command 
them. The newspaper interviewer cited in the previous 
chapter may be quoted again, to relate the circum- 
stance of Mr. Meyer's introducing the motor-car to 
the favour of the Italian King. Thus he teUs the 
story : — 

" At Castel Porziano King Victor Emmanuel had 
a lodge, whither he went occasionally to shoot wild 
boars. It was only 25 miles from Rome by a single- 
track railroad. His Majesty had been starting on 
these shooting trips very early in the morning and 
returning late in the evening. Ambassador Meyer 
suggested to him that the automobile would be a great 
time-saver. To demonstrate it, he took his royal host 
to Castel Porziano in the new machine. They started 
after breakfast and were back in Rome at 3.30 o'clock 
the same afternoon. That settled it. The King pur- 
chased an automobile. 

"They travelled so rapidly that the King's body- 
guards, who trailed along behind him as do the secret 
service men behind the President, — on bicycles, — 
were lost outside the walls of Rome, when the auto- 
mobile party passed into the Campagna. 



mn AMBASSADOR TO ITALY 39 

" ' I have broken the law to-day, Your Majesty,' 
said Mr. Meyer as they whizzed along the wild coun- 
tryside. ' I am carrying a revolver.' He had taken 
this precaution, because of anxiety about the King's 
safety. 

" * I have one, too,' was the royal rejoinder. 

" The King had little fear of assassination, in spite 
of his father's fate. But he went armed on those 
occasions, with the intention of putting up a fight 
against any possible assailant." 

This episode is not related in the diary, but many 
occasions of informal meetings with the King and 
other members of the royal family are noted. There 
are also frequent allusions to points of international 
intercourse — the arrangements for Italian participa- 
tion in the St. Louis Exposition, matters of tariff on 
American imports, an unfortunate affair involving a 
conflict between American sailors and the civil authori- 
ties of Venice, complications with Venezuela, naturali- 
zation questions, and, towards the end of his Roman 
days, the overshadowing menace of the Russo-Japa- 
nese war. All these matters are chronicled with 
greater and less detail in the diary, of which some of 
the most interesting pages deal also with meetings 
with the Kaiser, in Rome, Berlin, and elsewhere. But 
it is superfluous to describe the journal in detail while 
certain of its pages may themselves be used. The many 
ensuing extracts from it will be given without more of 
annotation than the necessities of understanding on 
the part of the reader seem to require. 



40 GEORGE von L. MEYER ^^^^^ 

On May 19 Meyer saw Monsignor O'Connell, now 
Cardinal in Boston, consecrated Bishop of Portland 
at St. John Lateran. The next day he wrote: — 

"^ 3Ia7/ 20. — Dined with MacNutt ^ — dinner given 
to the new Bishop of Portland; also met Archbishop 
Chappelle of New Orleans, who had been for a j'^ear 
in the Philippines. Had a very interesting talk with 
him on the condition of affairs at Manila and in the 
Islands generally. The reception was entirely of 
* blacks,' Cardinals, Monsignors, Bishops, and Arch- 
bishops. 

" May 21. — 11.15, audience with the King of nearly 
an hour. It is the custom to ask for an audience when 
leaving before the Court.^ They generally last 15 or 20 
minutes. He compared and discussed the constitu- 
tion of Italy and America, the malicious spirit of the 
Italians in certain quarters against royalty. I called 
attention to the unfortunate limit of age as regards 
entering the Chamber of Deputies, that Italy could 
never have a Pitt or Alexander Hamilton. The King 
said that his powers were much less than President 
McKinley's. The King gave me the first cast of the 
new 3-lira piece with his head and the new stamps for 
my boy. I am to send His Majesty our new set of 
stamps of the Pan-American Exposition. 

'' May 2S. — Archbishop Chappelle lunched with 
me to-day. He has just come from the Philippine 
Islands — went there at the request of the President. 
His views are that the Tagalog leaders should be trans- 

1 Francis A. MacNutt, an American member of the Papal household. 

2 Mr. Meyer was about to leave Rome for Homburg, where he took I 
the waters, en route to the United States. 



mil AMBASSADOR TO ITALY 41 

ported to Guam, or any other leader ; the native priest 
is our worst enemy; the laws should be changed grad- 
ually, the friars friendly to Americans (their interest 
to be) . The Filipino not friendly to American as yet, 
will take time to gain their confidence. The leaders 
are natural courtiers, that is, they He and are treach- 
erous. Valuable coal deposits. The Islands the key 
to the Orient. At present, religious controversies to 
be avoided for some time. The Archbishop had 
muzzled some, will do all in his power to continue this 
and has worked in the interest of the American pohcy. 
General MacArthur an able man — Taft a great 
lawyer, man of abihty, a Judge but not a Governor 

— the two professors theorists, and a politician, 

but narrow. 

" June 1. — We leave Palazzo Brancaccio with re- 
gret, as we had become very comfortably settled. Leave 
on the 9.30 train for Venice. Count of Turin ^ has the 
adjoining compartment. At Florence I was handed 
a telegram, and at the same moment one was given 
to Count of Turin. It was the announcement that 
the Queen had given birth to a Princess; she is to be 
called Yolanda Margherita." 

This day of travel was the first of a journey by 
easy stages to Homburg, with much agreeable sight- 
seeing and many encounters with friends by the way. 
At Homburg Mr. Meyer and his family remained 
for several weeks, while he took the waters. Thence 
they proceeded to London for a week of many pleas- 

1 Cousin of the King. 



42 GEORGE VON L. MEYER i^«"^ 

ures with American and English friends before Mr. 
Meyer himself sailed for America, July 17. In the 
journal for the days in London it is interesting to 
note a call (July 14) upon Senator Lodge — then 
chairman of the Senate Committee on the Philippines 
— and " a talk with him about the Philippines and 
the situation there as reported to me by Archbishop 
Chappelle"; and during the passage to New York 
the entry for July 21: " Captain's night. Usual fuss 
and feathers. I am called upon to speak. Speech 
well received. Toast to the Kaiser did not receive the 
applause one would have expected on a German 
steamer, but President McKinley toast received with 
enthusiasm." 

A stay of nearly two months in America enabled 
Mr. Meyer to attend to many affairs of business, to 
renew many friendships at Newport and Hamilton, 
and to refresh his knowledge of national matters. A 
visit to President McKinley at Canton, described in 
the diary, contributed to this end : — 

"August 31. — Arrive at Cleveland at 8 o'clock. 
Met at the station by Colonel Herrick. We breakfast 
at his house. Take the 11.30 train for Canton, Ohio. 
Arrive there at 1.30. Taken to the [hotel] by the 
secretary of the President and lunch with General 
Mac Arthur, just arrived from Manila. At 3 o'clock 
we call upon President McKinley, who received us 
with a charming grace and hospitality. Pass the 
afternoon with the President, and am invited to be 
present while General MacArthur makes his report 
on the Philippine Islands. - Most interesting. The 



^9<?il AMBASSADOR TO ITALY 43 

President invites General MacArthur and myself to 
stop to dinner. Spent a delightful evening, long to 
be remembered. Charmed by the President, who is a 
most lovable man. Impressed with General MacAr- 
thur's report. He has been with the Army at Manila 
for three years. Had a better opinion of the Filipino 
than I expected, and says General Funston's capture 
of Aguinaldo was a brave act and required great 
courage." 

Less than a week later, after busy days in New 
York and Boston, and a meeting of the Essex Club, 
at which he delivered a prepared address, Meyer, at 
Hamilton, wrote in his diary, September 6: "At six 
o'clock I hear that the President has been shot 
at in Buffalo at the Pan-American Exposition — 
a dastardly deed. May God spare his life!" On the 
following day he wrote: "The attempted assassination 
of the President may not turn out to be fatal; the 
people incensed and enraged " ; and for the few re- 
maining days of his stay in America he noted with 
hope the favourable items of news from the bedside 
of the doomed McKinley. On the very day of his 
sailing from New York for England, September 11, 
the diary reports : " President continues to improve. 
We shall probably get remedial legislation as regards 
anarchists. " Then follow brief notes of the unevent- 
ful passage, with this at the end of it : — 

''September 18. — At 5 a.m. the SS. Majestic 
reaches Queenstown. The purser comes into my state- 
room to wake me and announce that the President was 
dead! I am terribly shocked and overcome by the 



U GEORGE vox L. MEYER ^^^^i 

announcement. The week before he was shot I spent 
the day and evening with him at his home in Canton. 
I was charmed by the President, a most lovable and 
high-minded man, with a wonderful grace of manner. 
It seems very strange now that I should have called 
his attention that day to the meeting of the anarchists 
on July 29 in Paterson, N. J., to celebrate the assas- 
sination of King Humbert, and one speaker went so 
far as to wish there was a Bresci in every country — 
a dangerous sentiment to be allowed to be expressed 
publicly. 

" Arrived at Liverpool at 5 p.m., just as the 
Germanic was sailing for New York. The paper was 
full of the death of President McKinley, much Eng- 
lish sympathy expressed in a touching manner." 

That night Meyer noted with happiness the finding 
of all his family well in London, and wrote the next 
day: — 

'^ September 19. — Alice and I attend the Memo- 
rial Service at Westminster Abbey for President Mc- 
Kinley, a most impressive service. The various Am- 
bassadors and Ministers of the different countries were 
present, — Lord Pembroke who represented the King, 
now in Denmark, the American Ambassador, Mr. 
Choate, Lord Rosebery, Sir William Harcourt, Lord 
Mount Stephen, Lord Revelstoke, Lord Cranborne, 
Lord Chief Justice of England, the various Bishops, 
Charles Francis Adams, Lord and Lady Pauncefote, 
Henry L. Higginson, and others. In the evening we 
dined quietly with Mr. and Mrs. Choate at their 
house, No. 1, Carlton House Terrace." 



1901} AMBASSADOR TO ITALY 45 

The journey back to Rome was broken by a stay 
in Paris, where Meyer called upon King Leopold of 
Belgium, — "a fine-looking old gentleman who goes 
about in a most democratic way," — a shooting visit 
to Scotland, — which called forth the suggestive com- 
ment, " the men know how to live and enjoy life, but 
the women are not in it," — and stops on the way 
" home " at Turin and Florence. The first note in 
Rome, October 22, is one of pleasure: " Glad to have 
the sunshine again. Find one grows very attached to 
the place." By degrees, as October drew to an end, 
the diplomatic and other Roman circles reassembled, 
and the engrossing life of the capital was taken up 
anew. 

On November 23 an audience with the King, 
" gracious and in good spirits, and grown stout," is 
recorded, though without details of the forty-five min- 
utes' talk. There are notes on the dissatisfaction of 
the Itahan Government with the too frequent lynch- 
ings of Italians in the Southern states, and the diffi- 
culties of comprehending the distinction between our 
state and federal jurisdiction; also the first of many 
references to Meyer's interest in the American Acad- 
emy at Rome, here shown in his notifying the State 
Department that he will act as trustee ex officio for it. 
A few longer entries round out the first year in Italy. 

'^December 7, — At 1 o'clock to-day we arrive at 
the Palace of the Quirinal (Alice and myself) to 
have our audience with Queen Elena, she having tele- 
phoned at 11 that she had a sore throat and de- 
sired Alice not to come decollete. The Queen was 



46 GEORGE von L. MEYER ^^^^^ 

dressed in a lavender velvet dress trimmed with fur, 
similar to Alice's, which was black velvet trimmed with 
fur, and each had on a pearl necklace. The Queen 
is handsome, tall and good figure. She asked Alice 
where she came from. I think the Queen thought I 
had married a German, as Alice is so blond. Queen 
Elena said she was devoted to automobiling and en- 
joyed long journeys, can even take a nap. The King 
and Queen are living in the Villa of the Palace. Audi- 
ence lasted 25 minutes. 

" December 19. — Dined this evening with Prince 
and Princess Doria in the Doria Palace. It was here 
that he entertained the German Kaiser in 1893. The 
Kaiser in leaving said, * I hope you will come to Ber- 
lin, but I shall be unable to entertain you so hand- 
somely.' Prince Doria's palace is fuU of beautiful 
paintings and engravings and tapestries. 

" December 30. — Go to the hunt for an hour only, 
as Steed ^ was giving me a lunch so as to meet Baron 
Sidney Sonnino, a very interesting man, one of the 
few public men pointed to in Italy as honest, straight- 
forward. The other guests were Baron Tucher, Bagot, 
Norton, Professor Boni, Count Juliano. In the eve- 
ning at 9.30, Alice and I left Palazzo Brancaccio to 
attend the Court reception given by the King and 
Queen of Italy to the Diplomatic Corps. Our Secre- 
taries followed in another carriage. On arriving at 
the Quirinal Palace the Life Guards of the King 
were drawn up in front of the entrance inside the 

iH. Wickham Steed, correspondent of the London Times, now its 
editor. 



1901} AMBASSADOR TO ITALY 47 

door, all over 6 feet and in red uniform. We as- 
sembled, after passing through several outer cham- 
bers, in a large salon about 80 feet long and 50 feet 
high, when the different Ambassadors and legations 
arranged themselves according to length of service at 
Rome — the Austrian Ambassador being the dean of 
the Ambassadors. The King and Queen came in at 
10 minutes after ten o'clock, followed by eight ladies- 
in-waiting and two gentlemen-in-waiting, Marquis 

Calabrini and , who moved her train for her as 

she stopped and talked with each Ambassador and 
Ambassadress. The King commenced with the Aus- 
trian and the Queen with the Russian Ambassador, 
and then worked around the room talking to each in 
turn. The Queen looked very handsome in a yellow 
dress. . . . 

" It was quite an impressive sight. ... At 11.40 
they left the room as we all bowed, the ladies curtsey- 
ing. Alice had a great many compliments on having 
the most beautiful dress and figure at the Court on this 
occasion. Lady Currie said that Count von Wedel ^ 
and the American Ambassadress were the most striking 
people, with the finest uniform and Court dress, at 
the reception. As I heard it from many sources the 
next day, it made me very proud of my wife, the 
American Ambassadress." 

Early in the new year the official Ricevimento, to 
which reference has already been made, was held at the 
Palazzo Brancaccio. The following passage touches 
upon it, and an audience early in the day : — 

1 German Ambassador at Rome. 



48 GEORGE von L. MEYER f^^^^ 

*' January 4, 1902. — Audience with the Queen 
Mother [Margherita] at two o'clock. I went in first; 
two minutes afterwards Alice was escorted in. The 
Queen lives in the Palace now known as Margherita's 
Palace, formerly Piombino, and occupied by Mac- 
Veagh and Draper^ when they were Ambassadors. 

" The Queen was very attractive and charming, 
and seemed interested and posted in everything that 
was going on. Her son, the King, evidently gets 
many qualities from her and looks like her. We had 
a most agreeable talk of half an hour. The Ministers 
of Roumania and Chili were waiting for an inter- 
view. . . . 

" We gave an official reception in the evening. 
The two masters of ceremonies sent from the Court 
were the Duca la Rosa and Count Bruschi, who pre- 
sented all the guests as they entered the room to 
Alice and myself. We received from 10 to 11.30, 
Count Bruschi standing by Alice and Santa Rosa by 
me. After that every one entered the ball-room, 
where supper was served. It was very brilliant as the 
Ambassadors and Ministers and their suites all came 
in uniform, also the officers and the Italians with all 
the decorations that they ever owned. 

" The Palace and the plan of the rooms with the 
ball-room lends itself to a grand reception, and every- 
one was most complimentary and said it was excep- 
tionally brilliant. 

" January 19. — Dine at the Court. Dinner given 

1 Wayne MacVeagh of Pennsylvania, and William F. Draper of Massa- 
chusetts, Meyer's immediate predecessors. 



1902] AMBASSADOR TO ITALY 49 

by the King and Queen at the Quirinal to the Chiefs 
of Mission only. 

" We all assembled in the reception-room outside 
of the dining-room, or banquet hall. As the King and 
Queen entered, the men all bowed solemnly and the 
ladies curtsied. After a few minutes' conversation, 
the King gave his arm to Baroness Pasetti, the Aus- 
trian Ambassadress,^ and Baron Pasetti, escorted the 
Queen to the table. Baron P. told me that in Austria 
royalty never takes the arm of any one but royalty. 

" Alice was taken in by Count von Wedel, the 
German Ambassador, and again every one said that 
they made the most regal-looking couple in the room, 
the German in his full uniform and Alice in black 
velvet, decollete, with her turquoise necklace across the 
front of her dress and all her pearls and diamonds 
about her neck. 

" The Queen looked very lovely and has sweet and 
simple manners. . . . Alice sat within one of the 
Queen, as Lady Currie and Mme. de Nelidow" were 
ill. . . . Music played throughout dinner, and a 
large toothpick was at every plate, for use! 

" After dinner the King and Queen spoke to each 
one of us separately; the men were obliged to stand." 

The surviving Puritan in George Meyer found 
expression not much later in a Sunday note in the 
journal: "Played hearts in the evening: first time I 
have ever played cards with a clergyman on Sunday." 

1 Doyenne of the Diplomatic Corps, who had shown many kindnesses 
to Mrs. Meyer on her arrival at Rome. 

2 The Russian Ambassadress. 



50 GEORGE von L. MEYER t^^^g 

That the humours of the hunt were not lost upon 
him the following entry bears witness: — 

''February 10. — Gave Lord Charles Beresford a 
mount on Good Luck. He had new spurs, and un- 
consciously he pricked him, and the horse got away with 
him. I thought I should fall off, laughing. It re- 
minded me of the description of the Captain on horse- 
back in ' Peregrine Pickle.' 

" We had a good run and killed the fox. French 
Ambassador ran into an Italian officer, knocked him 
down, and then fell off himself." 

The throne and those nearest to it are seen, offi- 
cially and unofficially, in the two ensuing entries : — 

"February 20. — The King opens Parliament; sits 
on the throne, with the Due d'Aosta^ standing on his 
right and Count of Turin on his left; on each side 
also stood Due des Abruzzes and Due de Genes. The 
Queen was in a box on the first gallery with her ladies- 
in-waiting, opposite to the King. When the King 
bowed to her, she made a low curtsey. 

" The Ambassadors and Chiefs of Mission, with 
their wives, were in large box adjoining the Queen. 
The King read the speech, which lasted 10 to 15 min- 
utes. The procession was very fine, the King and 
Queen in separate State carriages; the street was lined 
with troops. 

" February 21. — Hunt at Cecchignola. 

" The Count of Turin and Duchess d'Aosta ^ at- 

1 The King's cousin, then heir apparent; the Count of Turin and 
Duke of the Abruzzi are the Duke of Aosta's younger brothers; the Duke 
of Genoa, another cousin. 

2 The Princess Elena of Orleans, daughter of the Comte de Paris. 



19021 AMBASSADOR TO ITALY 51 

tended. Was presented to the Count of Turin by 
the M. F. H., Marquis Raccogiovini ; to H. R. H. 
Duchess d'Aosta by the French Ambassador. I found 
her most gracious and agreeable, as well as attractive, 
and later rode and talked quite a while with her. 

" We had a good run with the hounds, but did not 
kill. Julia and Alice, my daughters, went out with me 
and enjoyed it, as did the Reverend Roland Cotton 
Smith, to whom I gave a mount. 

"Went out and came back in the automobile." 

Through March and April of 1902 many cables 
and letters passed between Meyer and his political 
friends in Massachusetts regarding the possibility of 
his coming home to contest the seat in Congress made 
vacant by the appointment of WilHam H. Moody as 
Secretary of the Navy. Had he finally yielded to the 
strong solicitations of those who believed that the con- 
test would prove successful, there might well have 
been quite a different story to tell in the remaining 
pages of this book. It is not often, however, that the 
" ifs " and the " might have beens " suggest so clearly 
that the decision arrived at was wise. In the work 
of a Congressman it is hardly conceivable that Meyer 
could have acquired so valuable a training for the 
posts he was ultimately to occupy as that which his 
European experience afforded. His remaining in 
Rome at this time was fully to justify itself, as a 
previous reference to the subject has intimated, on 
the score of sound judgment. 

A test of Meyer's ability to handle a delicate sit- 



52 GEORGE VON L. MEYER t^^^^ 

uation — though of a somewhat sordid nature — oc- 
curred at about this time. Near the end of April 
Itahan and American newspapers had much to say 
about the complications that followed the arrest of 
four officers of the U.S.S. Chicago at Venice, as the 
result of an overturned table after too liberal a dinner 
at the Cafe Piazza, with property damages and 
physical conflict with the civil authorities and imprison- 
ment ensuing in due course. The Consul-General at 
Venice did not notify the Ambassador for two days 
after the affair, when the conduct of it had passed 
beyond the jurisdiction of the Foreign Office into that 
of the Ministry of Justice. Through prompt and 
energetic dealings with Washington by cable and with 
the Italian authorities in person, Meyer managed to 
secure a special pardon, and liberation of the offenders, 
from the King himself, and the transfer of the pun- 
ishment they deserved from the court at Venice to 
their superior officers on the Chicago. Though ob- 
viously not an affair of great moment, it was one of 
those from which international ill-feeling and resent- 
ment are capable of growing, and its tactful, effective 
handling by the American Ambassador was an earnest 
of his capacity to deal with larger issues as they should 
arise. At the conclusion of the matter he wrote in 
his diary: — 

" May 5. — Had my audience with the King of 
Italy at 1 o'clock; found him quite recovered from his 
accident to knee and in good spirits and very cordial 
— gracious is the expression with royalty. Conveyed 
to him the grateful appreciation of the President for 



1902] AMBASSADOR TO ITALY 53 

his prompt and gracious action in freeing the officers 
of the Chicago from prison. 

"The King and Queen leave for Turin at 7.30." 

The occasion of the King's departure for Turin 
was the unveiling, on May 7, of a statue of Prince 
Amadeo, the King's uncle, father of the Duke of 
Aosta and Count of Turin. Meyer, with his wife and 
other members of his family, went also to Turin, the 
only ambassador at the Italian court — if a newspaper 
account of the day is to be credited — who attended 
the ceremony. A tournament, as of earlier days, gave 
its flavour to the occasion, which was immediately fol- 
lowed by the opening of an International Exposition 
of Modern Decorative Art, with an American section. 
A few notes from the diary suggest something of an 
ambassador's part in it all : — 

'^ May 7. — Reach Turin at 4.30 a.m. — just day- 
light. Retire to my room at Hotel Europe, but get 
up again at 8 a.m. Call Alice and Helo at 9 a.m. It 
was a beautiful day, and soon after we arrived the 
Duke and Duchess d'Aosta drove into the enclosure 
in state, men in scarlet livery; next the Princess 
Letitia,^ the Duchess of Genoa, and the Duke;^ last 
of all, the King and Queen and their ladies-in- 
waiting, also Life Guards mounted and brought from 
Rome. 

" After the unveiling of the statue the King in- 

1 The second wife of Prince Amadeo of Savoy, a sister of Prince 
Napoleon. 

2 Prince Thomas, Duke of Genoa, and his wife, Princess Isabella of 
Bavaria. 



54 GEORGE von L. MEYER ^^^02^ 

vited me to come up on the royal platform, where I 
was received by the King and Queen and invited to 
sign the deed with the royal family conveying the 
statue to the city. 

" In the evening came the tournament in which 
the Duke of Aosta, Count of Turin took part, and a 
number of noblemen all on horseback, representing the 
Duke of Savoy (Amadeo), about 200 years back. All 
the royal family present; very brilliant and well done.. 

'*^ May 9. — At 7 a.m. Alice and I had an audience 
with the Duchess d'Aosta. We were there for about 
half an hour. She was most agreeable and talkative. 
She hoped we were not going to leave Italy, and men- 
tioned seeing me at the monument, but it was impos- 
sible to bow from the stage in the presence of so much 
royalty. Their palace very attractive; reception- 
room on the ground floor with fine tapestries. 

'^ May 10. — Splendid view of the King and Queen 
and the royal family as they leave the palace for the 
Exposition, with the troops drawn up on both sides 
of the street and the buglers playing in a most spirited 
way. 

"When the King and Queen with the royal party 
arrived at the American Quarter of the Exposition, I 
received them and escorted them over the apartment. 
They remarked especially the pictures of the Waldorf, 
and also the Exposition of the Gorham Company. 

" Attend the dinner given by the Sindaco of Turin. 
The Duke of Aosta presided, next to him Count of 
Turin, then Duke of Genoa, G. v. L. M., and on my 
other side Bianchini, President of the Chamber of 



1902} AMBASSADOR TO ITALY 55 

Deputies; beyond him Zanardelli, the Premier; Duke 
of the Abruzzi was also present. In all 250 guests. 
The Duke of Aosta spoke very well and easily." 

Other days of ceremonial were soon to follow in 
Rome, when the Shah of Persia visited the Italian 
King. The diary relates some of the circumstances 
and impressions of this visit. 

^"^ 31 ay 21. — We all go to Countess Gianotti, to 
see the King and Shah of Persia on their way to the 
Quirinal Palace from the station, escorted by the Life 
Guards all mounted on horses seventeen hands high, 
the guards themselves over six feet. The street lined 
with soldiers, music playing, crowds shouting. 

'' May 22. — Get up at 7 a.m. and leave in the 
auto to see the parade in honour of the Shah. 

"The King, Count of Turin and the Staff, also 
military attaches all on horseback. 

" The Queen comes in a carriage with Shah of 
Persia. It was a very brilliant parade, the Bersaglieri 
being a special feature, who went by the King double- 
quick step, the bugles playing as they advanced and 
running at the same time. There were also the de- 
tached balloons with the gun carriages. 

''May 23. — Garden party in the palace of the 
King — at the Quirinal — given in honour of the 
Shah. 

" The King and Queen and the royal party ad- 
journed to the pavilion. At first the Ambassadresses 
were invited to join them. The King stood beside 
Alice a long time and walked with her. She attempted 



5Q GEORGE von L. MEYER ^^^^2 

to stand but [was] told that if she stood he would 
leave! The Ambassadors were then invited to come 
into the pavilion. 

" Barrere ^ and I talked with the King, and he 
told us of the Shah's fear of the cannons, and that 
they had to stop them. 

" The royal party adjourned into the adjoining 
room with the Ambassadresses and had tea. The: 
Garden is very beautiful and was laid out by Maderna. 

"May 2J^. — Attend the dinner at the King's 
Palace given in honour of the Shah to the Chiefs of 
Mission in the Diplomatic Corps. The only ladies 
present were the Queen and her two ladies-in-waiting, 
Countess Trigona and Duchess Grazioli Lante. 

" The Queen entered the salon on the arm of the i 
Shah of Persia, the King and the Count of Turin i 
each following with a lady-in-waiting. After they had I 
greeted the Ambassadors, we all went into dinner. I 
sat in the third seat to the left of the King, between i 
the French Ambassador, Barrere, and Minister of 
Foreign Affairs Prinetti. The dinner lasted less tham 
an hour. I can usually eat very fast, but my plate i 
was taken away at each course before I had 
finished. 

" After dinner the King came forward and spoke 
to me before the other Ambassadors and talked very 
agreeably for some time; told me about the Shah de- 
clining at the last moment to go and pay his respects 
to the Pope, for the reason that Cardinal Rampolla ^ 

1 Camille Barr&re, the French Ambassador. 

2 Papal Secretary of State. 



19021 AMBASSADOR TO ITALY 57 

would not return the visit until it could be done at a 
hotel, declining to enter the house of a Minister Pleni- 
potentiary accredited to the Quirinal. 

*' After the King left me, his cousin the Count of 
Turin, came forward and talked, but he had to leave 
shortly on account of the Shah of Persia coming for- 
ward to address me. 

" The Queen sat on the sofa and had each Ambas- 
sador and Minister brought up separately, with whom 
she talked a few minutes. She addressed me in Ger- 
man and was most charming and affable, sending 
greeting to my wife and also a message to the girls, 
saying it always gave her pleasure to see them in 
Rome. 

'^ May 25. — The Shah of Persia leaves Rome this 
morning, much to the relief of the King and Queen. 
The Shah could speak no language except his own, 
and is in reality a brute, and, the King tells me, a 
coward as well." 

In Naples a few days later Mr. Meyer paid 
official visits to American vessels of war, then at that 
port, took note of officers on the Chicago involved in 
the unfortunate affair at Venice a month before, and 
met Bishop Brent and Governor Taft, returning from 
the Philippines, the Governor on his way to Rome to 
treat with the Vatican regarding the friars and the 
disposal of their property in the Islands. " A most 
companionable man," was Meyer's description of him 
when they met at lunch in Rome on June 7, — the 
day of the Ambassador's summer departure for Hom- 



58 GEORGE von L. MEYER ti902 

burg and the United States, — and discussed the 
ambitions of other Americans for ambassadorial ap- 
pointments. 

The King and Queen Mother, with whom he had 
farewell audiences on the day before, each expressed 
the hope that he would surely return, for there were 
rumours that a change was impending in the American 
Embassy at Rome. Rumours of this kind, with little 
or no foundation, were of somewhat frequent recur- 
rence, and such a visitor as Governor Taft could often 
throw light uj^on their origin. 

The journey to Homburg was broken by a pleas- 
ant stop at Turin, where the races of a Concours 
Ilippique were in progress, and the Count of Turin 
and Duke of Aosta welcomed the travellers with much 
hospitality. After a fortnight of application to the 
" cure " at Homburg, the yacht races at Kiel afforded 
Mr. Meyer the first of a number of opportunities that 
were to fall to him within the coming five years to 
meet and talk with the Kaiser. All these interviews 
are recorded, with some detail, in his European 
journals. On June 28, 1902, he noted his arrival at 
Kiel, where he was met at the station by Captain 
W. H. Beehler, United States Naval Attache for 
Rome and other capitals, and was put up at the 
Kaiserlichen Yacht Club. The diary for the ensuing 
days is as follows: — 

"'June 29. — Ai 11 o'clock go out in Mrs. Klem- 
perer's steam launch to see the Meteor * race. At the 
start we passed the Empress in her launch, to whom 

iThe Kaiser's American-built yacht. 



1902] AMBASSADOR TO ITALY 59 

we all rose and bowed, the Empress returning the 
salute. 

" Later in the day, one of the Committee came on 
our boat and used it to notify the first two boats that 
the course was changed; then we notified the Kaiser, 
but he declined to accept the change. The two first 
boats had already turned the stake-boat, and this left 
the Committee man in a humiliating situation, as he 
had to go back and tell the other two boats to con- 
tinue the old course, which they did under protest. 

" The wind died out and the boats did not get 
back until 2 a.m. 

" Mr. Armour of the Utowana and Mr. Robinson 
of the Wanderer called. 

'^ June 30. — Called on Mr. Robinson on the 
Wanderer. Marion Story and his wife, also Miss 
Gray, on board. Left a card on the Utowana. 

" At 7 o'clock went to the Yacht Club, where the 
Kaiser distributed the prizes to the officers. Was 
presented to the Kaiser by the Chancellor von Biilow. 
The Kaiser is not as tall as I expected to find him, 
but he impressed me as a very strenuous man, with 
the faculty of giving you his entire attention while 
he is speaking to you. After the prizes were given 
out, the Kaiser again spoke to me before going to 
dinner. 

" At dinner I sat beside Admiral Eisendecker, who 
went to America with Prince Henry. After dinner 
we adjourned to the garden, where cigars, beer, and 
coffee were served. While we were standing around 
Prince Henry arrived, having come from England 



60 GEORGE von L. MEYER ^^^^2 

direct to Kiel in his man-of-war. I was impressed 
with the incident of Prince Henry's arrival, for at 
that moment the Kaiser was talking with Vice-Com- 
modore Robinson of the New York Yacht Club. The 
Kaiser went on talking, and Prince Henry stood with- 
out speaking, and waiting for his brother to recognize 
him before saluting. Then the Kaiser and his brother 
stood for some time talking. Afterwards the Kaiser 
came over and joined Chancellor von Biilow and 
myself. We had been smoking and talking together 
for some time. I had a most interesting talk with His 
Majesty for nearly half an hour about the Marconi 
System and the gifts he is sending to Harvard. 

" Later in the evening was presented to Prince 
Henry and was invited to sit down while we smoked 
and talked. I note he drank whisky and soda; aU 
the other Germans took beer. 

''July 1. — Alice and I went on board the steam 
yacht Wanderer belonging to Vice-Commodore Rob- 
inson, in order to follow the race to Eckernforde. 

" The Kaiser on the Meteor got in 20 minutes 
ahead of all the other yachts, but the time allowance 
that he has to give is so great that he only got thei 
third prize. 

" In the evening we went ashore to a little hall 
which corresponds to a village town hall. While we 
were waiting outside, Alice and myself, the Kaiser 
came along and shook hands with me, recognizing me 
in the crowd. Inside were the yachtsmen, the dif- 
ferent members of the Cabinet, von Biilow, and the 
admirals. The Kaiser invited me to sit beside him 



1902] AMBASSADOR TO ITALY 61 

on right; on the other side was Grand Duke of Saxe- 
Weimar, and the Prince of Monaco. Later in the 
evening Grand Duke Michel of Russia arrived unex- 
pectedly and I gave my place up to him. The Grand 
Duke Michel is at present heir to the throne. 

" Prince Henry had an extraordinary experience 
that evening. The Kaiser sent him to receive the 
Grand Duke, [who] was on his man-of-war which had 
just come from London. Prince H. could find no 
launch, and therefore took a row-boat with four fisher- 
men in it to go out to the Russian man-of-war. When 
he got there in this peculiar conveyance, the man-of- 
warsmen would pay no attention to him, not even 
allowing him to come on board. He then got quite 
excited and said that he was an admiral of the Ger- 
man navy and they must recognize him, which was 
reluctantly done, probably with fear. 

" The Kaiser greeted the Grand Duke Michel 
when he arrived and, speaking in English, said that 
it must have been a peculiar experience for the Grand 
Duke to find himself in such a place and under such 
conditions ! 

''July 2. — The Kaiser took on the Meteor the 
four owners of yachts, Robinson, Armour, Griscom, 
and Widener. 

" The Kaiser's boat, the Meteor, again came in 
first, but on time allowance the first prize went to the 
Empress's yacht, the Vicuna, the Meteor receiving 
second prize. We got back to Kiel at 12. 

"At 1.30 we lunched on board the Nahma, Mrs. 
Goelet's boat. It is the finest yacht that I have ever 



62 GEORGE von L. MEYER t^^^^ 

seen — like a beautiful chateau inside, and surpasses 
the Hohenzollern, belonging to the Kaiser. 

" July 3. — In the morning Alice and I took a 
walk and found that the Corsair with J. Pierpont 
Morgan, had arrived. Alice and I went out and 
called. On board were Dr. and Mrs. Marcoe, Mrs. 
Douglas, Mr. Lanier, Robert Bacon, and Miss 
Morgan. 

" Mr. Morgan lunched on the Hohenzollern. In 
the afternoon the Kaiser, von Biilow, etc., called on 
the Corsair. 

" In the afternoon we went through the Kiel 
Canal. It was commenced in 1889 and finished in 
1895. 

" July 4' — The Morgan-Griscom-Widener party- 
all leave for Homburg. There is a big deal on includ- 
ing some traffic agreement of German SS. lines in 
the Atlantic Ocean Trust which is being formed. 

"We leave for Paris at 11.25. 

"Reach Cologne at 10 o'clock; have time to walk 
around the Cathedral, which is now entirely finished. 
I had not seen it since 1878, when I was travel- 
ling alone between my junior and senior year at 
Harvard." 

After a short stay in Paris Mr. Meyer sailed for 
America, where he passed nearly two months, un- 
marked by signal events. Ten days in hospital for 
an operation — the prospect of which had helped him 
to decide against running for Congress — consumed 
a portion of the vacation. On one of its days of free- 
dom, July 25, he lunched with President Roosevelt 



1902] AMBASSADOR TO ITALY 63 

at Oyster Bay, and made record of the meeting. 
" The President most cordial. Talk over his affairs 
and the situation as to his renomination ; go over the 
question very thoroughly." Here is a point on which 
more of detail would be welcome. 

It was enough to say of another matter which 
may have an antiquarian interest some day: "August 
4. — Talked with Charley McKim about the 'White 
House ' wliich he is doing over in Washington, and 
arranged to have the eagles in the large room of the 
Somerset Club copied for him." 

On September 13 Meyer sailed again for Europe, 
and after stopping in Scotland for a few days of shoot- 
ing, rejoined his family in Paris on October 1. Visits 
to Turin, Milan, and Florence, the more agreeable by 
reason of much friendly intercourse with the Duke of 
Aosta and the Count of Turin, broke the return to 
Rome, where he arrived before the end of October. 
A few passages from the diary for the remainder of 
the year will suffice to record it. 

"November 19. — Audience with the Ring this 
morning at 10 a.m. As I entered the room, the King 
announced that the Queen had given birth to another 
princess^ at 1.30 a.m. This was the first that I had 
heard of it, the news not having been sent to the press 
in time for the morning editions. 

" The King was very cordial and expressed grati- 
fication that I was not giving up my post. We dis- 
cussed the ' Statuto,' also the disappearance of the 
premium on gold, and the Italian colonization in 

1 Princess Maf alda. 



64 GEORGE von L. MEYER f^^<>^ 

Argentina, which he said he hoped would practically 
become eventually an Italian republic. 

" November 22. — Leave Rome for Ardea in the 
auto; take Waldo Story, Professor Norton, and Lieu- 
tenant Peruzzi di Medici. From Porta S. Paolo we 
went to Ardea in 47 minutes, the distance being 43 
kilometres. 

"We arrived at Story's shooting-box on the 
Mediterranean at 1 o'clock, just one hour from the 
palace. Kill 35 snipe and 4 teal duck. The duck- 
shooting was a novelty. You wait until after dark 
in a bhnd, and then, when the ducks fly over your 
head, you can see them against the sky and shoot. 
The difficulty is to find them after they fall in the 
marsh. 

''November 23. — We have a fox-hunt after rid- 
ing on little ponies for about 10 kilometres along the 
coast, the waves of the Mediterranean breaking on the 
beach and the quaint fishing-boats dodging on the sur- 
face of the ocean in the distance. Occasionally we 
pass fishermen up to their waists in water, dragging 
hand nets. 

"We get three foxes, and late in the afternoon 
after the sun has set, I shoot a couple of mal- 
lard. 

"December i(?.— Preside at Sh* R. Rodd's,' at 
meeting of Anglo-American Home. Stormy meeting, 
many points of order raised; my experience as 
Speaker of the House most useful on this occasion. 

1 Sir Rennell Rodd, then Secretary of the British Embassy, now 
British Ambassador, at Rome. 



1902} AMBASSADOR TO ITALY 65 

Meeting lasted three hours ; congratulated by both fac- 
tions for the fairness of my rulings. 

^^ December 15. — Attended the Chamber of Depu- 
ties at 5 o'clock to hear Minister of Foreign Affairs 
Prinetti speak on the Venezuela Affair. Italy will 
send two men-of-war to act in the blockade with Eng- 
land and Germany. 

" The Chamber is carried on with very little for- 
mality and attention to parliamentary rules. Some 
of the members labour and take violent exercise in 
gesticulations when they speak. They are very voluble 
and speak with ease and rapidity, but not always to 
the point. 

"December 15. — Minister of Foreign Affairs 
notifies me of their appreciation of the prospect of 
settling Venezuelan difficulties by arbitration of Presi- 
dent Roosevelt. If, however, the President is unwill- 
ing to act so far as Italy is concerned, no objection 
to submit claims to permanent court at The Hague, 
provided her claims receive the same treatment as the 
claims of other countries. 

" December 24. — Send cable of 72 words to Sec- 
retary Hay on Italy and the Venezuela matter. Italy 
has joined with England and Germany in blockading 
with their naval forces the Venezuelan ports for not 
having satisfied their complaints." 

Several passages in the diary for the opening weeks 
of the new year have to do with Castro and Venezuela 
and the satisfactory results of Meyer's dealings with 
the Italian Foreign Office on behalf of the State De- 



66 GEORGE VON L. MEYER t^^^^ 

partment at Washington. Later possibilities of in- 
ternational cooperation are suggested in the final 
entry : — 

'' February 8, 1903. — Cable Washington that Italy 
does not object to having claims settled through 
Mr. Bowen ^ at Washington, or, failing that, refer- 
ring controversy to the permanent court at The 
Hague, on condition that the claim of Italy receives 
the same treatment as analogous claims of other 
Powers." 

The minor troubles of an ambassador are suggested 
by the first of the following notes upon passing ex- 
periences. 

" February 10. — We give in Palazzo Brancaccio a 
large dinner for the Austrian and German Ambas- 
sadors and Bavarian Minister. 

" In answer to a letter that I received from John 
Hay as to whether there was any truth in the rumour 
that any American citizen not received at the Quirinal 
was undesirable or would not be welcome at the public 
reception of the American Embassy, I was very glad 
to have an opportunity to deny it and to say that the 
question as to whether an American is received at the 
Quirinal or not is not considered or even thought of, 
except at the Ricevimento, when the Court supervises 
your list and erases all names of Italians who have not 
been presented at Court, sending two Masters of Cere- 
monies to introduce the guests. 

" February 14. — * Midsummer Night's Dream ' 
given in the ball-room by a number of children under 

■^Herbert W. Bowen, American Minister to Venezuela. 



1003} AMBASSADOR TO ITALY 67 

Sir Rennell and Lady Rodd, at 4.45. ' Bey ' ^ takes 
the part of Bottom. 

" H.M. the Queen of Italy arrived at 4.45 by the 
Garden. I went down the steps, followed by Mr. 
Iddings, the first Secretary of the Embassy. After 
saluting the Queen, I offered my arm, Mr. Iddings 
and the Countess di Trinita following. Alice received 
the Queen in the salon, and after a few words I 
escorted her into the ball-room to her seat. 

" After the performance was over, I again escorted 
the Queen to the salon, where she received my girls 
and Mrs. Iddings, and I presented Mr. Leonard M. 
Thomas, the new second Secretary. 

" The carriage being announced, I escorted H.M. 
to her carriage and she drove off through the Garden 
with the Countess di Trmita and Count di Trinita. 
The Palace and Garden were surrounded by gen- 
darmes and detectives. 

'^^ April 19. — General Wood came and dined with 
us, and we had a long talk after dinner about Roose- 
velt's prospects of being nominated and elected; also 
what men he could trust in Washington. 

" Wood told me that the White House was a great 
success in the work done by Charley McKim in the 
restoration. 

" April 27. — The King of England arrived to-day. 
We took a room on Via Nazionale, with a balcony 
which held six people. Great preparations had been 
made to decorate this street from the station to the 
Quirinal Palace. In driving to join Alice and the 

1 Mr. Meyer's son. 



68 GEORGE von L. MEYER ^^^^s 

children, I met the King and the House of Savoy 
going to the station to receive the King. H.R.H. the 
Count of Turin recognized me and saluted. The: 
street was lined with troops on both sides. The two 
Kings drove in a carriage by themselves, the King of 
England sitting on the right, the mounted Life 
Guards preceding them. In the next carriage was the I 
Duke of Aosta, the Comte de Turin, Due d'Abruzzi, , 
and the Duke of Genoa. They all recognized Alice 
and myself and saluted. 

" The street was crowded and the decorations very 
effective, especially in Piazza di Termini; but there 
was very little enthusiasm. Surprised to see the King 
of England so fit and well. 

" The Duke of Aosta came round and took a cup 
of tea with us at 5 o'clock. 

^' April 28. — Gala performance of the Opera at 
the Argentina, in honour of King Albert Edward VII 
of England. The five Ambassadresses and seven Am-' 
bassadors sit in a large box next to the royal box. In 
royal box, King V. E. Ill of Italy, King Edward VII 
of England, Queen of Italy, Duke of Aosta, Count of 
Turin, Duke of Abruzzi, Duke of Genoa, and several 
ladies-in-waiting. Princess Teano, Duchess of Ter- 
ranova. Countess Guicciardini, and Countess Bruschi,, 
In the other boxes, of which there are five tiers, were 
the Diplomatic Corps, ladies of the Court, and the 
nobility of Rome. Among the most striking and beau- 
tiful were Princess Trabia, Countess Martini {nee 
Ruspoli), Marquise de Bagno, Duchess of Suther- 
land, Miss Bhght. Many people said Mrs. Cornelius 




VIEW FROM BALCOXY OJ' PALAZZO BRAXCACCIO, SANTA 
MARIA MAGGIORE IX THE DISTAXCE 



19031 AMBASSADOR TO ITALY 69 

Vanderbilt had the most beautiful jewels and that the 
American Ambassadress (Alice) was the most stylish! 
The Opera was not especially good, but the ballet 
excellent; it had been imported from Milan and 
the costumes, Japanese, new and fresh. The tout 
ensemble of the house was very fine and brilliant. 
The performance ended at midnight and the confu- 
sion in getting carriages afterward was disgraceful. 
Ladies were obliged to walk into the streets in their 
low-neck dresses and slippers and find their carriages 
with their escorts. 

^'^ May 2. — The Kaiser of Germany, the German 
Crown Prince, and his brother arrive in Rome, the 
train over one hour late. 

" Fortunately the rain held as they drove to the 
Palace from the station. In the first carriage the 
Kaiser and the King of Italy; second carriage, the 
Crown Prince, the Duke of Aosta, and Due d'Abruzzi; 
third carriage, brother of Crown Prince, Count of 
Turin and the Duke of Genoa; fourth carriage. Count 
von Billow, Chancellor of Germany, Zanardelli,^ and 
Admiral Morin,^ after that the suite of the Emperor 
in gorgeous uniforms. All the state carriages were 
used and the servants and outriders in red livery. It 
was a very fine sight. 

" The French and Spanish Ambassadors and 
myself viewed the procession from a stand erected in 
front of the American Church with the three flags of 
our country draped over our heads. Alice, Helo, and 

1 Premier of the Italian Cabinet. 

2 Minister of Foreign Affairs. 



70 GEORGE VON L. MEYER ti9^3 

the children were in a private balcony. The King of 
Italy as well as the Kaiser saluted Alice as they 
passed. 

" H.R.H. the Duke of Aosta came to tea in the 
afternoon and brought us some photos of himself 
jumping his horses. 

"May 3. — Attended American Church. After 
lunch went to Doria Palace to see the Kaiser leave 
the Prussian Legation for the Pope at the Vatican. 
We could see directly opposite, in the Odescalchi 
Palace, the Kaiser and Rampolla talking together, also 
the Crown Prince and his brother. The Kaiser drove 
off in an elaborate carriage which he had sent from 
Berlin, drawn by four horses with postihons and two 
footmen behind, all in gorgeous liveries, and the 
Kaiser himself in a splendid uniform followed by four 
or five carriages containing his suite. Rome has been 
much impressed by the style in which the Kaiser has 
done things, and he has increased his popularity. The 
King of England did things more simply and showed 
his age and effects of his illness. The suite brought 
by the Kaiser, all splendid, big men. 

"' May 4. — Audience with the Kaiser at 7.30. The 
Chiefs of Mission assembled at the Quirinal Palace at 
the appointed hour. It differed from the audience 
with the King of England inasmuch as the Kaiser 
gave a separate and private audience to each Ambas- 
sador. As Nelidow was ill, I was the fourth Ambas- 
sador received, Austria, Turkey, and France preced- 
ing me. When I entered the room after being pre- 
sented by the German Ambassador, Comte de Monts, 



1903] AMBASSADOR TO ITALY 71 

the Kaiser shook hands and said, ' How do you do 
again ! ' I had met him several times at Kiel. We 
had a most delightful and cordial conversation, and 
in leaving he said that he hoped to see us again at 
Kiel. 

" After the audience, left the Quirinal with Barrere 
and played bridge at the Farnese Palace until 11.30; 
then went to reception given by the Countess Somaglia 
for the Crown Prince of Germany and his brother. 
Was presented to both by the hostess. They are 
young and natural. 

'^ May 5. — Kaiser goes to Monte Casino for the 
day. Gives 10,000 marks. 

" Reception to the Kaiser at the Capitol was inter- 
esting and impressive, with all its historic surround- 
ings and wonderful collections of art. The Diplomatic 
Corps and the ladies-in-waiting to the Queen with the 
gentlemen-in-waiting stood in the Sala, with its won- 
derful mural decoration, to receive the Kaiser with the 
King and Queen of Italy and their suites. They 
marched in state to the adjoining room, where a few 
ladies were presented to the Emperor of Germany; 
i first Mme. Nelidow, the Russian Ambassadress, and 
then Alice. The Kaiser told my wife that he hoped 
!we were coming to Kiel again this year. After that 
Madame Rudini, the three sisters of Prince Doria, 
Countess Gianotti, and Madame Ristori were pre- 
sented. The Emperor, with the Queen of Italy on 
his arm, followed by the King with Princess Sonnino, 
the wife of Prospero Colonna, syndic, made the grand 
tour of the rooms. 



72 GEORGE von L. MEYER f^^^^ 

" May 6. — Kaiser leaves Rome at 5.50. We had 
the same balcony on Via Nazionale, and the King of 
Italy and the Kaiser of Germany both looked up and 
saluted, and the Kaiser looked back a second time and 
waved to me. The Duke of Aosta and the Count of 
Turin also saluted." 

From the account of several days in May spent in 
visiting Milan, Florence, and Venice, the following 
description of a picturesque spectacle may be taken : — ■ 

" Maij 15. — Reach Venice at 5.30 a.m. — lovely 
morning. Our gondolas are waiting for us and take 
us to the Grand Hotel — at 6 a.m. At 8.30 a.m. the 
King and Queen pass in their gondola, escorted by 
the old gondola beautifully painted, and with men in 
ancient costumes, the same as those used by the Doges. 
The King afterwards told me it was an ancient custom 
to give the King this splendid escort — a really beau- 
tiful sight. The King and Queen recognized us from 
the gondola, and bowed to our balcony. Met the King 
and Queen at the Art Exhibition, and the Queen came 
over and talked with Alice and the children while I 
talked with the King. This was at 3 p.m. The syndic 
sent me a box for the opera — gala performance. The 
house is really a gem, and only lighted by candles, 
most becoming. The royal box is very wide and 
handsome. 

'' May J 9. — Since the departure of the special St. 
Louis Commissioner, I have been working hard to get 
the Italian Government to reconsider their adverse 
action as to taking part in the St. Louis Exhibition, m 



1903^ AMBASSADOR TO ITALY 73 

" To-day Admiral Morin, Minister of Foreign Af- 
fairs, informed me that at the meeting of the Cabinet 
they had voted to take part and appropriate 500,000 
lire. He also thought that they would assign a naval 
vessel for the transportation. 

" This was very satisfactory as Mr. had given 

up the job." 

The remaining days of May and most of June 
were filled with occupations so similar in general char- 
acter to those already described in passages taken from 
the journals that no useful purpose will be served by 
further detailed quotations from them. But before 
following Meyer to the Kiel yacht races at the end 
of June, when he sailed one day with the Kaiser on 
the Meteor, and noted a conversation of no small sig- 
nificance, it is worth while to take a single passage 
from the diary at Turin, on June 11. Many gaieties 
attending the races, with all the special opportunities 
for enjoying them which the cordial hospitality of the 
Duke and Duchess of Aosta afforded, were in prog- 
ress. 

In the midst of it all this note of ill omen is struck: 
" At the race course we hear that the King and Queen 
of Servia and all the household have been murdered. 
It seemed as though it must be the fourteenth instead 
of the twentieth century." The arrangements for a 
ball two days later were cancelled ; otherwise the round 
of pleasures went on, as if Europe were not already 
smouldering before the destined conflagration. In the 
Kaiser's talk at Kiel there is some intimation of it. 



74 GEORGE VON L'. MEYER ^^^^s 

The journals for the days in Kiel (June 25 - July 1) 
record JNIeyer's first meeting with the German Em- 
press, — " very handsome, dignified and well dressed, 
but appears older than the Kaiser," — the launching 
of a German man-of-war, a race on the American 
yacht Navahoe, a breakfast with the Emperor and 
Empress on the Royal Yacht Hohenzollern, and the 
following : — 

"'Jirne 56>. — Reach the Yacht Meteor at 7.09 
A.M. The Emperor being behind me in his gig, I go 
to the port side and get on deck just before the Em- 
peror comes alongside, sharp at 7.10 a.m. He shakes 
hands and greets all in turn in a hearty spirit. Fine 
morning, and everything promises for a splendid 
race. On board Prince Henry, Admirals von Tirpitz 

and Eisendecker, Mr. Armour, Professor , and 

A.D.C.'s. 

" As we start I go down into the saloon by invita- 
tion of Prince Henry while he eats his breakfast; how- 
ever, get on deck in time to see us go through the 
American and German fleet. Admiral Cotton was on 
the stern of the Kearsarge to hail the Emperor, and 
the Emperor wished him a pleasant voyage and made 
a joke as he passed. All the ships, both American 
and German, cheered as we passed. As there were 
four American and sixteen German vessels, it was 
quite impressive. 

" Made a good start, and began our race, manned 
entirely by German officers and sailors. 

" Both the Emperor and Prince Henry were in 
great spirits, like two men off for a holiday. We told 



19031 AMBASSADOR TO ITALY 75 

stories, and I found them most appreciative of a good 
joke. 

" During the morning the Emperor sat down 
beside me, and we had a long and interesting chat 
about various things and matters. 

" He spoke of having been down to the Mediter- 
ranean while Queen Victoria (his Grandmother, he 
called her) was reigning, and Salisbury was Premier. 
He talked with the English Admiral, and asked what 
he should do in case of war, and if the French fleet 
should attack him. The Admiral replied, ' Run for 
Gibraltar.' Kaiser said that was not his idea. He 
said, ' You should make an alliance with Italy,' and 
told the Admiral, ' if you like, I will make a report 
on the Mediterranean situation to my Grandmother.' 

" This, he told me, he did at great detail and 
trouble, and Salisbury practically paid no attention 
to it. * The English,' he said, ' move so slowly. They 
should have had a complete scheme how to act, where 
to have their base, in case of trouble. As it was, noth- 
ing was planned. Italy was the nation England should 
have made a close alliance with.' 

" The Emperor was very amusing about his visit 
at the Quirinal and the entertainment at the Capitol." 

Meyer's summer of 1903 in America was like the 
others for which he had returned from Italy, in its 
blending of politics, business, and society. On one of 
its days, July 15, he wrote in his journal: " Sit up 
until one o'clock, talking with Lodge, giving him the 
result of my information obtained by my talking with 



76 GEORGE von L. MEYER t^^''^ 

the business men, which he is to impart to the Presi- 
dent next day." A few days later he visited Oyster 
Bay himself, and was gratified by the President's ex- 
pressions of satisfaction with his work as Ambassador. 

After rejoining his family in London at the end of 
September, many pleasures in London, Paris, and 
Turin intervened before reaching Rome less than a 
month later. At Paris, on October 13, on the eve of 
the arrival of the King and Queen of Italy for an 
official visit to President Loubet, he wrote in his diary: 
" Receive a telegram from Iddings that the Tsar has 
given up his trip to Rome. Nelidow, Russian Am- 
bassador, suddenly advised his not coming, because 
nervous and seems to have lost his head." This matter 
formed the topic of some remarks from the King of 
Italy a few weeks later, when Meyer and his family 
were summoned from Pisa on November 5, to pass 
the next day with the King and Queen at the Chateau 
at San Rossore, hard by, where Meyer and the King 
were to have a " chasse." The diary records an inter- 
esting day. 

" November 6. — The girls are much excited over 
our visit. All get up at seven in order to be at the 
Chateau at nine prompt, as the King is always on 
time. We reach San Rossore at 9 a.m., but the King 
and Queen are already standing outside the door with 
their auto and their attendants. General Corsini, and 
Calabrini, and Count Brambilla. After we salute and 
shake hands with the King and Queen, the King gets 
into the auto with me, the chauifeur and my daughter 
Alice behind; Alice and my daughter Julia in the auto 




KING VICTOR EMMANrp:L III AND THE AMERICAN AMBASSA- 
DOR SAN KOSSORE, NOVEMBER, 1003 



1903} AMBASSADOR TO ITALY 77 

with the Queen. We fly around part of the park, 
which is very extensive (20,000 acres) and then go to 
the stables. The King, General Corsini, and myself 
get on our horses, Alice drives with the Queen in a 
two-wheel gig, and the girls in another by themselves. 
We proceed to make an excursion through the woods, 
which are quite dense and full of game. We drove 
all the way to the sea, seeing Leghorn in the distance, 
and at one time Pisa. 

" We had no sooner got on our horses than the 
King remarked that my colleague (Nelidow, Russian 
Ambassador) had made a mess of it in advising the 
Tsar not to come to Rome (in consequence of which 
Nelidow was no longer persona grata), and he had 
asked to have him recalled, and that Prince Our- 
oussow, now Ambassador at Paris, had been ap- 
pointed. The King really felt very strongly on the 
matter, as the Italian police and the Russian police 
had pronounced it safe. Nelidow lost his head and 
asked the Government to give a guaranty, and even 
went so far as to request that the King should give a 
personal guaranty. The King rephed that he was not 
the prefet of the police, but that he would place him- 
self between the Tsar and all danger. Nelidow an- 
nounced that it was satisfactory, but a few days later 
he went to the Consulta and told the Minister of For- 
eign Affairs that he had advised his ruler not to come, 
as the guaranties were not sufficient. The King went 
on to show the difference between Russian and Italian 
methods, drawing attention to the fact that Italy was 
practically a free and constitutional country; said the 



78 GEORGE VON L. MEYER t^^^'^^ 

Tsar knew nothing about what was going on and did 
not even open his own letters. Zanardelli resigned 
on account of ill health, not because of the Tsar's 
action. 

" We all lunched with the King and Queen, Alice 
on his right and ]Marchesa Calabrini on his left. I 
was on the right of the Queen and General Vaglia on 
her left. The others at table were General Corsini, 
General Brusati, on Ahce's left Comte di Brambilla, 
on my right my daughters Julia and Alice, Marquis 
Calabrini, Count Tozzoni, and two other gentlemen- 
in-waiting. 

" There were as many servants in scarlet livery as 
there were guests, and I noticed between the courses 
they all went out of the room, which made conversation 
much easier than if a servant was standing behind 
every chair. The conversation became quite general, 
the Queen chaffing the King about getting up at 6.30, 
singing and waking every one else up. It was carried 
on chiefly in French. After lunch the Queen took 
photographs of the different groups. The electric 
auto was brought out, the King and Queen taking 
turns in running and giving us a ride. Then General 
Corsini showed the stallions, which I could see bored 
the King and Queen. At 2.30 we went to the wood 
and had a pheasant drive. My stand was next to the 
King. It was very agreeable shooting. We were 
only allowed to kill the male birds. 

" After that we took the auto, going to the beach 
to have afternoon tea; and the two princesses were 
brought out, Yolande and Mafalda, very cunning and 



19031 AMBASSADOR TO ITALY 79 

healthy. The King took me into his chalet to study 
maps. It is very simply furnished, and they live in it 
quite alone without any of the Court. 

" At five o'clock we took our leave in the auto- 
mobile. The King and Queen wrote in Julia's auto- 
graph book." 

International and personal affairs are touched upon 
in the journal for the rest of 1903, from which a few 
of the more interesting passages are the following: — 

'' November 24. — Call on Tittoni, Minister of 
Foreign Affairs, who has just returned from London. 
Talk with him about recognizing the new Republic of 
Panama, which Italy is quite prepared to do, and 
expressed themselves quite in sympathy with the Presi- 
dent's action and in no way opposed, realizing the 
benefit the world's commerce would receive; merely 
waiting to act in conjunction with England and 
France. 

" November 30. — Go to the hunt and ride my 
horse. Ruby. After 15 minutes the whip gives the 
hallo, * Tally-ho, hark-away ! ' and one of the best 
runs that I have ever seen gives promise by every 
indication. The fox makes a straight hne towards 
Albano, with the hounds well bunched and lining out; 
Ludovico Lante put his horse at a staccionata of three 
bars, and I followed him, which gave us a lead of the 
field and we were soon up with the hounds, going 
over hill and dale, taking stone walls and staccionate 
as they came. We had run for about half an hour 
>vhen we came to a very stiff post and rail (stac- 



80 GEORGE VON L. MEYER ^^^os 

cionata) which I put my horse Ruby at, as in two 
years he had never touched a thing, when, with a rap 
on the top bars, we both turned a somersault, landing 
on our heads, the horse falling across my chest and 
stomach and pinning me to the ground. He tried to 
roll over me, but although almost knocked out, I put 
up the one knee that was free and he, feeling resist- 
ance, rolled the other way, getting up and leaving me 
flat on my back on the wet ground. I was unable 
to move for minutes, the wind having been knocked 
out of me. Count Fraseo fortunately came up, put 
my hat under my head and unbuttoned my coat and 
vest. After ten minutes I was able to get up, stiff 
and thoroughly shaken by the fall. Captain Bodrero 
came along with a groom on Monteondi's horse; the 
groom dismounted, and with some difficulty I was able 
to get on the horse and have him lead him to the meet, 
where, after a glass of brandy, I got into my carriage 
and went back to Palazzo Brancaccio and got to bed 
so stiff that I could hardly move, thoroughly wet and 
chilled, as it was a heavy rainstorm. 

" Doctor Montichiari came round and examined 
me; nothing broken, only stiff and bruised. 

'' December 13. — William Jennings Bryan, Dem- 
ocratic candidate for President against William Mc- 
Kinley, called this morning with his son and Mr. 
Curtis, correspondent of the Associated Press. Bryan 
looks well and has grown fat. He has an audience 
with the Pope at 3 o'clock, and he is coming to lunch. 
I told him that, had he let me know that he was com- 
ing, I could have arranged an audience for him with 



imi AMBASSADOR TO ITALY 81 

the King; but as he is leaving to-night it would be im- 
possible. He said, 'Could not I call on him (the 
King) to-night?'" 

Before the end of the year premonitory rumblings 
of war between Russia and Japan began to be heard. 
On December 26 Meyer found himself, with the 
French and Austrian Ambassadors, dining at the 
German Embassy, and wrote in his journal: " Sur- 
prised to find that their personal and private sym- 
pathy seemed to be with Japan if war should come 
with Russia." Early in the new year, 1904, there are 
constant references to the subject — as in the note of 
January 18 : " Cable Hay that the Russian Ambassa- 
dor had told the Minister of Foreign Affairs that he 
did not consider the questions between Russia and 
Japan matters of arbitration or mediation." The im- 
pending struggle could not be ignored even on a day 
such as that of which the record follows. 

*' January 4, 1904. — Hunting with the King and 
Queen. 

" Was at the Palazzo Reale at 8 o'clock sharp, with 
my auto, as was Prince Sonnino with his. At eight 
sharp we start. General Euriglio Ponzio Vaglia with 
me — second aide-de-camp ; the King and Queen and 
Duchess d'Ascoli in another; Calabrini with Prospero 
Colonna, and the rest in the King's second auto, which 
General Brusati had in charge. We reached Castel 
Porziano in an hour, and immediately went to our 
stands, the King and Queen in one, I in the next, and 
Colonna adjoining. We were the only ones that got 



82 GEORGE von L. MEYER ^^^^'^ 

anything; the King killed five boars and six deer, and 
I got three very large boars, and Colonna two. After 
the shoot the King got into my auto with me and we 
went to the beach on the Mediterranean. I had a 
walk, talking about the prospects of war between 
Russia and Japan. At 12.30 we had lunch in a little 
house on the beach. Everything was placed on the 
table, the hot dishes in casseroles which had been 
brought from Rome. The King sat at the head of the 
table, the Queen on his left and I on his right, Pros- 
pero Colonna on my right, and Duchess d'Ascoli on 
the Queen's left. No servants in the way, and we 
helped ourselves. The Queen said she liked it better 
thus, more hke a picnic. Very informal and bright 
and gay. The Queen and Duchess d'Ascoli returned 
with me to Rome in my automobile." 

A few typical entries for ensuing days are the fol- 
lowing : — 

" January 11. — King and Queen opened the ex- 
hibition of the American Academy. They came 
promptly at 10 a.m., accompanied by General Bru- 
sati, Duke and Duchess d'Ascoli. Prince Sonnino 
and Signor Tittoni also attended. 

" The King and Queen were received by Mr. Mow- 
bray,^ myself, and Ahce at the door, and escorted to 
the exhibition. They were much interested and stayed 
about an hour. Part of the time I escorted the King, 
and later the Queen. It has given a great boom to 
the Academy, and is the third time that such a thing 

1 H. Siddons Mowbray, of the American Academy. 



im^ AMBASSADOR TO ITALY 83 

has happened in Italy. The heads of the other acad- 
emies all attended. 

" Very successful dinner in the evening, given by 
Mowbray, at which was present the Italian Ambassa- 

! dor at Washington, Mayor des Planches. 

"February i. — Call for H.R.H. the Duchess 
of Aosta at the Royal Palace at 10.30, in my automo- 
bile, to take her to the meet at ' La Pisano.' Looked 
very stormy, but stopped raining at 11 o'clock. She 
rode my horse, Vieux Marcheur. All the officers of 

: the Tor di Quinto were presented. Photographers very 
busy with their machines. The attendance light on 
account of the weather. The Duchess jumped a post 

I rail in great form, which I had already taken. We 
had a short run of 30 minutes and at half -past three 
we went back in my auto and arrived at the Royal 
Palace at 4.15. She looked beautifully on horse- 
back. 

" Alice and I in the evening went to a ball in the 
Venetia Palace given by Austrian Ambassador ^ to the 
Pope. 

" February 6. — Diplomatic relations with Russia 
broken off by Japan. Japan has been very patient 
and Russia has been giving evasive answers, and to 
Japan's last inquiry has put her off for three weeks. 
All the meantime she has been sending forward troops 
and ammunition, which made it evident she was play- 
ing for time. Japan felt she must strike now or never. 

I " Russia very much surprised, thought she could 
[go] on with her game of procrastination. 

1 Count Szgcsen. 



84 GEORGE von L. MEYER t^^^^ 

" Sympathy here with Japan. 

" February 8. — Japanese attack Port Arthur, 
evidently take the Russians by surprise and torpedo 
three of their best battle-ships. This is of the greatest 
importance, as it gives them a tremendous advantage 
on the seas and will enable them to transport troops 
safely to Korea." 

On February 9 Mr. and Mrs. Meyer left Rome for 
Berlin, in answer to an invitation from the American 
Ambassador, Mr. Charlemagne Tower, to meet the 
Kaiser at dinner. " I had a long talk with him after 
dinner," Mr. Meyer wrote (February 11) in his diary, 
" about the Russian and Japanese war — most inter- 
esting, his view," of which more details are given in 
a later entry. Within the next few days the Meyers 
saw something of the more sumptuous aspects of Ger- 
man life, through attending two Court Balls, described 
in the following notes : — 

'' February 12. — We called for the Towers at 8 
P.M., and they took us to the Royal Palace with an 
outrider on horseback. The White Room with 
the throne, where the ball was held, has been 
done over by the Emperor — very handsome — gold 
ceiling. Only Ambassadors and their wives and 
the most important of the German Court [were 
there]. 

" We had supper in the Emperor's room, and I 
sat at Chancellor von Billow's table, and took in 
Madame (Griifin) Warlinsleben. Alice was in the 
same room, at the Princess Feodora's table, and Ad- 
miral von Senden-Bibran took her in to supper. The 



imi AMBASSADOR TO ITALY 85 

room was hung with pictures of all the Empresses. In 
all 800 people sat down to supper at small tables. 

" The ball was beautiful — every one in uniforms 
of the richest colours. Before the dancing ^ commenced, 
the Emperor talked with the Ambassadresses, and 
t then with the Ambassadors. He talked so long with 
i Tower and myself that the papers mentioned it the 
I next morning. I danced with the Princess Daisy von 
Pless, and the Emperor complimented me on my 
dancing. I had another opportunity to have a long 
talk with him, standing beside the throne, and told 
him of the intention of the Eastern Yacht Club to 
offer a prize for German and American yachts. He 
asked me to write it out. The ball was finished by a 
j very pretty figure at 1 a.m., when every one dancing 
I came forward at the same moment, bowed and curtsied 
I to the Emperor. Just before the ball ended, the Em- 
peror came and stood beside Alice and talked to her. 
'"^ February 16. — Go to our second Court Ball — 
twice as many people there this time, and the entire 
Corps Diplomatique; also the Princess Fiirstenberg 
and the Princess Fiirstenberg von Fiirstenberg — both 
very handsome women, with beautiful jewels — rather 
rare at the German Court. Unfortunately the Em- 
press could not come on account of her health, or 
Prince and Princess Henry an account of their child. 

1 In a letter to he'r children about this ball, Mrs. Meyer wrote as 
follows of some of the dancing: "The quadrilles and minuets, led by the 
^ Crown Prince, were beautifully and solemnly danced. When the Kaiser 
came to his seat during the evening, I took pleasure in saying what 
enjoyment it was to witness those courtly dances. He said he had them 
learned for the deportment of the rising generation — not for pleasure, 
but for serious duty." 



86 GEORGE von L. MEYER tiso/, 

" The Emperor talked a long time with the Russian 
Ambassador ^ at the other end of the room, which de- 
layed the dancing. The Russian Ambassador left the 
ball with his suite as soon as the Emperor stopped 
talking with him. The Japanese Legation stayed. 
The music started as soon as the old Russian Ambas- 
sador had left. Later in the evening the Emperor 
came and shook hands with Mrs. Tower, and then 
nodded for me to come forward, shaking hands and 
keeping me beside him. He then commenced to re- 
late a good deal of his conversation with the Russian 
Ambassador, who, he said, was uncertain as to the 
wisdom of accepting Hay's proposition of the coun- 
tries that signed the Pekin protocol to agree to the 
neutrality of China. The Emperor told the Ambassa- 
dor to wire the Tsar and say that he, the Emperor, 
thought it most important for Russia. The Emperor 
then went on to say that he had advices that Japan 
was urging China on through certain channels; Russia 
had not yet waked up to the present Oriental power. 

" His Majesty also seemed very much pleased with 
the President's message — congratulations on his in- 
itiative in the neutrality of China. 

" Later I waltzed with Princess Daisy von Pless 
at the Emperor's suggestion, and he told me that he 
had never seen a civilian dance so well. (In Germany 
they think only Army men can do anything.) " 

A series of miscellaneous passages from the diary 
may speak for some of Mr. Meyer's chief con- 

1 Coimt Osten-Sacken. 



1904] AMBASSADOR TO ITALY 87 

cerns during the months following the visit to 
Berlin. 

'' February 26. — General Ricciotti Garibaldi, the 
son of the great Garibaldi, called upon me, and stated 
that he had been with Saranoff while the latter was in 
Italy, and that he had said that it would be a gratifica- 
tion to the Macedonians if the United States would 
act as arbitrator in the matters between Turkey and 
Macedonia. I replied that, as he had come officially I 
could only hear what he might have to say without 
giving [formal] expression to his wishes. As a matter 
of information, I then inquired if all the parties in 
interest to the treaty of Berlin were in accord with 
him on the matter. His reply was that England, 
France, Italy, and even Russia would accept, but not 
Germany or Austria. When I suggested that arbi- 
tration would be out of the question unless all powers 
agreed to it, the point was avoided by his referring 

i to our government's action as to Chinese neutrality 
and limiting the sphere of war between Japan and 
Russia. 

''March 3. — The Chinese Minister, Hsu Keoh, 
called on me to-day to express his gratification at the 

I exercise of the good offices of the Government at 

' Washington in connection with maintaining the neu- 
trality of China, and to say that he hoped our friend- 
ship would continue after. 

'' March 24. — At 10 o'clock receive a telegram 
from Hofmarshal von Lyncker to come and dine with 

^ the Emperor at 8 o'clock Friday, on board the Hohen- 
zollern in Naples. 



88 GEORGE von L. MEYER ti90^ 

" March 25.— Take the 8.10 train for Naples 
and arrive at 1.35. Go straight to the Hotel 
Vesuve. 

"An A.D.C. called to say that we should wear 
black ties at dinner. At 7.45 I found the launch 
waiting for me at the arsenal. Hofmarshal von 
Lyncker was waiting at the head of the gang-way, 
and von Chelius escorted me to the Emperor, who 
was talking with Monsignor King, the head of the 
Monte Casino Monastery. At 8 o'clock sharp we went 
in to dinner and I sat on the right of the Emperor 
and King on his left. I gave Alice's message to H.M. 
about the beautiful Berlin balls, and later he said, 
' I want to send to your wife some of these magnifi- 
cent Neapolitan pinks which are on the table,' and 
later in the evening he remembered to do it. The 
Emperor seemed in splendid health again and his 
voice as strong as ever. We had quite a talk about 
the war, the growth of Berlin, and the deceptive policy 
of Russian diplomacy. No one sat down after dinner, 
but I have got used to that. 

"Among those at dinner: Prince Fiirstenberg, 
General von Plessen, and von Griimer. 

'' March 27. — Leave Naples in auto ( Hotel 
Vesuve) at 8.30 a.m. Arrive at Monte Casino at 
12, having taken eighteen minutes to ascend the hill 
into the Monastery. Monsignor King had invited me 
as we were leaving the HohenzoUern. My card being 
taken up, we were escorted to the Cathedral and led 
up to the choir, where the Prior came out and invited 
me to stay to breakfast and informed me that Mon- 



imi AMBASSADOR TO ITALY 89 

signor King would be out shortly, as soon as Mass 
was over. 

" The breakfast was most interesting, as the monks 
were seated around the room with the chairs backed 
up to the wall and the table in front. One sees every 
one in the room at a glance. A prayer was chanted 
before we began to eat, and did not finish until a bell 
was rung. Then we began to eat and talk. The same 
thing happened at the end of the meal except that we 
stood up. Passed three hours in the Monastery. Left 
at 3 P.M.; arrive in Rome at 8 p.m. 

" April 20. — Have an audience with the King, 
in order to present him with the new rifle of our army 
and with the compliments of President Roosevelt. His 
Majesty found the rifle too heavy, short in the stock, 
and a poor style of bayonet, which he said was also 
the fault of the Italian army rifle. He was much 
interested in the work which was to begin on the 
Panama Canal, and wanted to know if the plans were 
to be changed materially; asked what was to be done 
about Hayti, and said a few of our troops there would 
settle the country. Complained of the actions of the 
Venezuela Government and their treatment of Bowen; 
also called to my attention that Indians in our coun- 
try were now increasing. 
I " April 24-. — President Loubet arrived. 

" Saw the entrance into Rome, which was very 
well done, in beautiful carriages even better turned 
out than when the Emperor arrived. The suite of 
Loubet, however, is not to be compared with the 
Emperor's. 



90 GEORGE von L. MEYER f^^^'^' 

" I was surprised however to find what a small 
man the French President is, not as tall as the King 
of Italy. 

" Quite a representative body at the American 
Church : English Ambassador ^ and Lady Feodore 
Bertie, the Japanese Minister, some Russians, the Ser- 
vian Minister, the Austrian Ambassador to the Pope, 
and his wife. Count and Countess Somssich. 

'' May 21. — The French Ambassador to the Vati- 
can, Nisard, was recalled on account of the protest 
of the Vatican to the French Government and the 
Roman Catholic powers upon Loubet's (the French 
President's) visit to the King of Italy in Rome. 
Merry del Val, the Secretary of the Vatican, is blamed. 

" May 25. — Had an audience with the King of 
Italy which lasted three-quarters of an hour. He 
talked very interestingly about the Japanese and Rus- 
sian War. Spoke of the corruption in Russia and 
the wonderful progress of the Japs and their organi- 
zation. Public sentiment and publicity were a great 
safeguard to public morale in England, America, and 
Italy. No such publicity existed in Russia, conse- 
quently corruption was concealed and the country suf- 
fered thereby. Expected to see Russian army anni- 
hilated." 

The Republican National Convention of 1904, at 
which Theodore Roosevelt was renominated for the 
presidency, brought Mr. Meyer, still the Massachu- 

1 Sir Francis Bertie, afterwards Lord Bertie, British Ambassador to 
France during the war. 



im] AMBASSADOR TO ITALY 91 

setts member of the Republican National Committee, 
to America earlier than in the previous summers of 
his term abroad. The second half of June was crowded 
with political and other engagements; in July there 
was escape from pressure in salmon-fishing at the 
Restigouche Club in Canada; in August at Newport, 
in the midst of many pleasures, he was making ar- 
rangements with his brother-in-law, Charles F. Mc- 
Kim, and Mr. Walter Mowbray for the purchase of 
the Villa Mirafiori on behalf of the American Acad- 
emy in Rome. Altogether it was a busy and profitable 
summer, of which the chiefs events are related with 
some detail in the diary. 

^'^ June 14. — Arrive at quarantine at 7.30. Gov- 
ernor Odell takes me in the government tug up to 23d 
Street, and I arrive at the Knickerbocker Club at 
9 P.M. Dine with Bob Bacon, Whitney Warren, and 
Winty Chanler at Martin's. 

" Decide to take the ' 20th Century ' express next 
day for Chicago. 

^' June 15. — Lunch at Sherry's with Winty Chan- 
ler, Whitney Warren, Bordie Harriman, L. Beeck- 
man, and Charley Wetmore. 

" Take the 2.45 ' Century ' for Chicago. On the 
train Charley Dawes and John Barrett, Minister to 
Panama. Dawes tells me that they want me to go 
on the Executive Committee of the National Com- 
mittee. 

'' June 16. — Reach Chicago at 9.45 a.m. Leave 
my luggage at the Auditorium and go direct to the 
meeting of the Republican National Committee in the 



92 GEORGE VON L. MEYER tiwi 

Coliseum. Payne was presiding. Consider the con- 
tested question of Louisiana and Mississippi. 

" Dine in the evening with Governor Herrick of 
Ohio, Governor Murphy, and Mr. George Peck. 
After dinner go to the theatre, to see the ' Wizard of 
Oz.' In the play there is a very amusing song called 
' Sammy ' which is always sung to some one in a box. 
This time it was Governor Herrick, which amused the 
audience. 

^' June 17. — We heard the Wisconsin case at 10 
o'clock and listened to the evidence until 6 p.m. The 
evidence was very much in favour of Senator Spooner, 
and we unanimously threw out the Governor La Fol- 
lette delegation and seated the Spooner delegation. 

" Called up the White House on the long distance, 
and talked with the President about the opposition to 
Cortelyou, advised Bliss coming on as soon as possible. 

" June 18. — Heard New York and Ohio case* 
before the Committee. 

" Dined with Nicholas Murray Butler and Elihu 
Root, who is to be temporary chairman and make the 
opening speech. 

" Got a long telegram from the President: ' Please 
wire me in full about opposition to Cortelyou. People 
may as well understand that if I am to run for Presi- 
dent Cortelyou is to be chairman of the National Com- 
mittee. I will not have it any other way. Please give 
me names of people opposed to him, and you are wel- 
come to tell each of them what I have said. The 
choice of Cortelyou is irrevocable, and I will not con- 
sider any other man for the position, and shall treat 



imi AMBASSADOR TO ITALY 93 

opposition to him as simply disguised opposition to 
the Republican party. In other words I regard oppo- 
sition or disloyalty to Mr. Cortelyou as being simply 
an expression of disloyalty to the Republican party, 
precisely as the same would have been true of Mr. 
Hanna four years ago. — Theodore Roosevelt.' 

''June 19. — Mr. Kohlsaat gives a lunch at the 
Saddle and Cycle Club on the lake, a charming place 
— Mr. Root, Butler, General and Mrs. Grant, Mr. 
Smith, former postmaster [general]. Governor and 
Mrs. Herrick of Ohio, Chauncey Depew, and Walter 
Wellman. There were many good stories told about 
President Roosevelt. 

" Held an important meeting about Cortelyou — 
5.30. 

'' June 20. — Yesterday afternoon the Massachu- 
setts delegation arrived, headed by Senator Lodge; ex- 
Governor Crane, ex-Governor Long, Collector Lyman, 
Bob Bacon, and others. 

" I distributed the tickets for the Convention to 
the delegation. 

" Go to the station and meet Mr. Bliss, Treasurer 
of the Finance Committee, and post him as to the op- 
position to Cortelyou for chairman, and ask him to 
remain absolutely firm as to the choice of Cortelyou. 

"June 21. — Convention called at 12 o'clock. Sec- 
retary Root, the temporary chairman, makes a re- 
markably eloquent and powerful speech which is 
received with satisfaction and also admiration. 

" Go to a dinner of about 70 people at the Grand 
Pacific, given by Tom Walsh of Colorado to his dele- 



94 GEORGE VON L. MEYER ^^^^^ 

gation. The table was the shape of a star, with a 
Governor at each end. On the right of the host was 
Speaker Cannon, and on his left myself. The dinner 
was much delayed, and we only sat down at 9 p.m. 
Cannon speech excellent, the others very dull. 

'' June 22. — Second day of the Convention. 
Speaker Cannon, permanent chairman, makes a speech 
of one hour and a half. Very little excitement, as 
everything is cut and dried and no opposition what- 
ever to Roosevelt. 

" Senator Lodge reads the platform — which is 
well received. Tariff plan satisfactory. Reciprocity 
not very liberal form. 

''June 23. — Reach Washington at 5.30 and go 
straight to the Metropolitan Club; find a telegram 
from President Roosevelt, asking me to dine at 
8 P.M. 

" Take a ride in the electric car with Dick Peters 
— into the country. At dinner in the White House 
was Mrs. Roosevelt and the President, Miss Alice, 
Paul Morton, the new Secretary of the Navy, and 
Miss Carow, sister of Mrs. Roosevelt. Dinner very 
pleasant. The President was most interested in every- 
thing that took place at Chicago, specially about the 
opposition which had started and which we overcame, 
I told him, on account of his firm and decided tele- 
gram that he sent me. 

" Left at 10.30. He then asked me to come round 
to lunch the next day. 

" June 2A. — Call on John Hay, Secretary of 
State; found him looking much older, but in better 



im-i AMBASSADOR TO ITALY 95 

health and spirits. Found the Secretary of War, 
Governor Taft, in his office, in great form. 

" Lunch with the President in the White House at 
1.30 — Secretary Moody, young Garfield, Gus Jay, 
Miss Alice Roosevelt, and myself. 

" After lunch the President took me into an ad- 
joining room and said that he intended in March to 
make me a Cabinet officer, or, if this should not work 
out, to give me another ambassadorship. He said, ' I 
do not want you to consider this a promise, because a 
change in the slate often makes an appointment impos- 
sible; but that is my present intention and wish.' He 
added, 'I am very much pleased in the way that you 
have represented the country.' 

''June ^^. — The Class of 1879 (Harvard) lunch 
in the Harvard Union given by Henry Higginson. 
.We sit down a little over 100. 

" There was a lunch in the room below, of the 
Harvard Law School Association, at which Taft and 
Olney spoke. 

" Our class visit the Stadium ^ and have their photo- 
graph taken. 

"Dine in the evening at the Country Club; it was 
our 25th anniversary of graduation. I was called upon 
to speak, and received several compliments for my 
speech from several classmates. Many shocked me by 
looking so old. 

" June 29. — Commencement Day at Cambridge. 
I. T. Burr, Chief Marshal; Templeman Coolidge and 
myself marched in the procession on each side of him. 

1 Given to the University by the Class of 1879. 



96 GEORGE von L. MEYER ^^^^^ 

President Eliot and Bishop Lawrence behind us, and 
next in line. Governor Bates. 

" At dinner Bishop Lawrence made an effective 
speech on the needs of the University and the thirty- 
year service of President Eliot. Mr. Eliot responded 
in an exceptionally well-worded address, and then was 
followed by Cabot Lodge, who expressed himself in a 
very statesmanhke manner. 

"In the evening we had a dinner at the Somerset 
Club of 123 '79 men. . . . The dinner was a great 
success. We had a piano and an accompanist and 
some excellent songs, especially by Nat Brigham and 
George Sheldon. The sad part is that we all will 
never be together again. 

'"July i^. — Talk with Ex-Governor Murray 
Crane about the Finance Committee [of National Re- 
pubhcan Committee] over the long-distance telephone 
to New York. 

'' July 15. — Robert Bacon, J. J. Storrow, and E. 
Draper consent to act on the Committee, with Murray 
Crane and myself. 

"July 25. — Received a cablegram this morning 
from the Emperor of Germany, dated Trondhjem, 
Norway, Royal Yacht Hohenzollern : 'Your wife and 
children lunched with me to-day on board Hohenzol- 
lern, all well. (Signed) William I. R.' 

" I answered as follows : ' Permit me to thank Your 
Majesty for cable and kindness to my family, which 
is much appreciated. Von Lengerke Meyer.' " 

A letter from Mrs. Meyer, from the German ship 
Meteor, on which she was visiting the Norwegian 



im^ AMBASSADOR TO ITALY 97 

coast with her children, gives a characteristic ghmpse 
of the Kaiser on a summer cruise in Norway just ten 
years before the momentous July of 1914, when he 
was similarly employed : — 

July 24, 1904. 

This morning at quarter before eight we came into the 
Trondhjem Harbour and there passed the Hohenzollem, the 
Emperor's yacht. 

Every one was on deck to see all they could, as the night 
before the Captain had put up a notice saying the time we 
should probably get into harbour. The girls had on their red 
coats, and we got a good position and saw His Majesty 
saluting. 

It is customary to send over the list of passengers to 
the Emperor, and launches were steaming back and forth all 
the morning. Orders came for the eight cadets and their lieu- 
tenant to go to the Royal Yacht for prayers, and it was amus- 
ing on deck to see the lieutenant drill the lads, and look them 
over, to see if they were all clean and presentable. The head 
steward appeared on deck to tell me that the purser had a 
message for me. I went down and found a messenger from His 
Majesty who told me that I was expected to lunch on board 
the yacht at one o'clock, and also all the children. You can 
imagine that in our small cabins confusion and excitement 
reigned. What to wear.? was the cry, for our trunks held but 
little that was fit for royal criticism. Fortunately the girls 
had some nice white flannel suits. At a little before one the 
launch was ready, and we started over, accompanied by the 
German doctor from Bonn, who was also invited. The deck 
of the Meteor was well covered with the passengers to see us 
off, and I overheard one woman exclaim with shocked surprise 
at my dress, " What, without a train ! " 

On arriving at the yacht, we were ushered up the com- 



98 GEORGE von L. MEYER t^^^^ 

panionway to an inner hall where we left our furs, and the 
master of ceremonies, Captain Grumm, took us out on the deck 
and presented several of the gentlemen. Almost immediately 
the Kaiser appeared, laughing and calling to us, " Where did 
you come from?" in a most informal manner. The Emperor 
shook us all cordially by the hand, with a most friendly grip, 
and we all walked in to lunch. 

The Emperor was dressed in undress yachting suit. He 
looked remarkably well and was in wonderful spirits. There 
were twenty-two at the table. On His Majesty's right, I sat; 
on his left the Consul from Trondhjem; Prince Albert^ oppo- 
site the Kaiser, and on either side Julia and Alice. Many of 
the gentlemen who were on the yacht I had already met in 
Berlin, at the balls last winter: Admiral von Seiden, also Cap- 
tain Grumm, and Count von Smithers. 

Lunch was very jolly — Prince Albert full of jokes, and 
the Emperor teased him, calling across the table constantly to 
him. The Emperor spoke of Kiel and inquired how and where 
you were. He also spoke of automobiles and considered them 
most injurious for the nerves. 

Lunch was quickly served by men in sailors' suits. I 
noticed the Emperor drank from silver mugs which stood in a 
line, varying in sizes. He told me the only healthy diet was 
fish, much fruit, and but little drink. 

After lunch we went on deck, our furs were brought us, 
and the Emperor told me that his orchestra should play all 
American airs for our benefit. The music was of the best, and 
we enjoyed the concert immensely, which lasted over an hour. 

It was bitterly cold, and the gentlemen who were on the 
yacht told me they hoped daily the Emperor would give orders 
to move South, The Emperor at every new tune asked me 
the name, and I had to confess that for some, although Ameri- 

1 Of Schleswig-Holstein. 



looj,] AMBASSADOR TO ITALY 09 

can, I was ignorant of their names. He said he should cable 
you that I was a poor American and did not know my American 
tunes. The Emperor told us a very good story on our national 
tune. In Kiel he said there was a divided opinion which of 
the eight tunes should be national, so that it was decided for 
the morning that the band on the American man-of-war should 
play " The Star Spangled Banner," and in the evening " Hail, 
Columbia! " The Kaiser enjoyed that arrangement and laughed 
heartily over it. Boats came from shore to hear the music, 
which was delightful, and the Emperor appreciated my remark 
when I said that the band on the Meteor would be most painful 
to listen to, after this music. At the close the Kaiser ordered 
the old German national air, standing near the orchestra, and 
leading himself. He then asked us if we would see the yacht, 
which is a beautiful one in every detail without being over 
grand. 

The Emperor showed us himself the Empress' suite, a charm- 
ing salon, furnished in chintz, and a grand piano. 

The Emperor's private room was lined with photos, and 
a charming group of the Princes and the little Princess, of 
whom the Emperor spoke with affection and admiration. At 
the gangway His Majesty said he regretted he had nothing 
more to show us, and we, thanking His Majesty for his extreme 
kindness, curtsied to take our leave. The Emperor shook hands 
again and honoured me by kissing my hand. 

Captain Grumm gave the girls and boys each a box, with 
Hohenzollern souvenirs, and we went down the gangway to the 
launch, the Emperor standing on the landing until we pushed 
ioff. 

This is indeed a day to be remembered by us all. As the 
Emperor had advised us to see the Cathedral at Trondhjem, 
we went ashore and found it most interesting. In such a far- 
away place it is strange to find such architecture — partly 
Roman, and partly Gothic. 



100 GEORGE VON L. MEYER f^^o^ 

At seven o'clock we sailed out of the harbour, passing 
quite close to the Hohenzollern, and again seeing the Emperor, 
who was saluting the crowd. 

Of other royal personages in whom Meyer had 
good reason to be interested, there are the following 
notes in his diary. 

" August 12. — The Tsarina of Russia gives birth 
to an heir to the throne of Russia. The Tsar an- 
nounces that he is more pleased than if it had been a 
Russian victory over the Japanese. There are four 
daughters alive, and one or two in addition died prema- 
turely. I believe all the world is glad for the Tsarina, 
for the reason that if the last had been a girl, I believe 
there would possibly have been a demand for the Tsar 
to take another wife in order to obtain an heir. 

" I hope the Queen of Italy may have a son also 
this next September. 

''September 16. — Alice cables that the Queen of 
Italy has given birth to an heir, to be called the Prince 
of Piedmont. Very politic not to call him Prince of 
Rome, as it would have only embittered the Vatican 
at this time when they and the House of Savoy seemi 
to be coming nearer together. This event is very im- 
portant to the dynasty. Of course it is hard on the 
Duke of Aosta, of whom I am very fond. 

"I cable General Brusati, A.D.C., at Racconigi,, 
to express my felicitations, etc., to the King." 

When Meyer sailed for Europe about two weeks! 
later he had received the President's assurances of high 
satisfaction with his work in Italy and on the Republi-j 



im] AMBASSADOR TO ITALY 101 

can National Committee, together with the promise — 
as the diary has shown — of a place in the Cabinet, 
perhaps to be preceded by another ambassadorship 
than the Italian. Throughout the autumn there were 
many rumours that he would be sent to Berlin or 
Paris — either of which posts would have appealed to 
him more strongly than St. Petersburg before he 
fully realized what the appointment to Russia would 
mean. This was to be made clear through correspond- 
ence, from which, as from his diary for the remaining 
months in Italy, some representative passages will be 
drawn. Frequent jottings in his journal reveal his 
close attention to the progress of the war in the East. 
There are longer entries illustrating the close relations 
of friendship he had formed in Italy. Two such pas- 
sages have to do with a visit to the Duke of Aosta in 
Turin on his way from Paris to Rome. 

''October 15. — Arrive in Turin at 2.25 p.m. 
Find the Duke's A.D.C. waiting for me, with the 
carriage, to drive me to the Palazzo Cisterna. I am 
escorted immediately to the Duke's private room and 
received without any formal ceremony, as I have been 
there so often. The Duchess comes in, in a few 
moments, and is most cordial. 

" Aosta suggests that I go riding with him at 4 
o'clock, which is most agreeable after the long journey 
from Paris. We return at 6.30 after a delightful ride 
in the country accompanied by two A.D.C's. and two 
detectives on bicycles. 

" On returning we have a cup of tea with the 
Duchess in her private salon, and I am presented to 



102 GEORGE VON L. MEYER t^»^^ 

the Comtesse de Paris (her mother), and meet again 
the Princess Louise. The Comtesse de Paris dresses 
very simply but with dignity. . . . 

" We all dine at 8 p.m. — no one except the gen- 
tleman-in-waiting of the Comtesse de Paris. After 
dinner we go to the opera, the Duchess, the Princess 
Louise and myself in one carriage; Baron and 
Baroness di San Martino, in waiting to the Duchess, 
and the gentleman-in-waiting to Princess Louise in 
the second carriage. We sat in the royal box and the 
opera was the first performance of Adrienne Lecou- 
vreur, not very good. ... It was in the theatre 
which Vittorio Emmanuele II used for a circus. 

" We got back about midnight and had some 
* grog ' in H.R.H. the Duchess' private salon, where 
the Duke joined us, he having been studying an ora- 
tion that he had to make next day. On retiring the 
Duchess invited me to ride horseback with her Sunday 
at 8.30 A.M. 

*' October 16. — At 8.30 I was in the courtyard 
of the Palace where the horses were already standing, 
two greys, and a bay for the groom. In about five 
minutes the Duke and Duchess of Aosta walked in, 
having attended mass together. In less than five min- 
utes she was down again, all dressed for the saddle. 
It was a beautiful morning, a slight mist which the 
sun was rapidly driving away, which gave a sort of 
Corot effect to the fields and trees. We went straight 
across the country, fording streams and jumping 
ditches and having long canters down some of the! 
alleys of Stupinigi, where the Queen Mother was com- 



1904] AMBASSADOR TO ITALY 103 

ing later, and in which palace we had breakfast just a 
year ago. The Duchess was in great spirits and most 
charming. She said she envied me and my family 
travelling so much, and that now that her husband was 
no longer heir presumptive, she hoped that they would 
travel about more, adding that it was a delicate matter 
before, as it would look as though they were trying 
to give themselves special prominence. This was the 
only reference made to the Prince of Piedmont, born 
to the Queen a month ago. 

"We never got back until nearly 11.30, after a 
charming ride. It is such a pleasure to see her in the 
saddle and handling her horse — so graceful and such 
wonderful hands with a horse. 

" After a delicious bath in a bath-room, up to 
date with porcelain tub, we had breakfast at 12.30, no 
one present except the family and the two young 
princes (sons of the Duke of Aosta) about four and a 
half and six years. The King has given them each a 
title, one of the Duke di Spoleto, the other the Duke 
degli Puglie. 

" After lunch Aosta had the coach round and we 
drove off into the country — H.R.H. the Countess of 
Paris on the box; behind them the Princess Louise, 
Duchess of Aosta, and myself, on the back seat, the 
di San Martinos, who are in waiting, and Captain 
R., A.D.C. We drove almost to the mountains 
and then went to the Medici Palace, which formerly 
belonged to Victor Emmanuel II. There we had tea. 
As I was taking the train at 8 o'clock for Rome, a 
special dinner was served me at 7 p.m. The Duke 



I 



104 GEORGE von L. MEYER t^^^^' 

and Duchess came and sat with me while I was at 
dinner, the Duchess remarking that they came to be 
sure I got something to eat. 

" I never received more charming hospitality. I 
was sent to the station in a Royal carriage with Cap- 
tain R., the A.D.C." 

Returned to Rome, where his family a\/aited him, 
Meyer went on with his journal: — 

"'October 18. — I wrote the State Department 
that Parliament was dissolved to-day. The decree 
fixes November 6 for the General Election, and No- 
vember 13 for those candidates who did not receive 
the prescribed two-thirds vote required for election. 

"It is thought that the Sociahsts organized strikes 
and demonstrations the morning after the birth of the 
heir to the throne, hoping there would be bloodshed 
in order to make the birth of the Prince a day of 
misfortune. Giolitti had the troops out, but they were 
ordered not to use their arms. In Milan, Venice, and 
Genoa the strikes were severe, but no bloodshed. It 
was in a way a rehearsal also by the Socialists to test 
their organization and power. It has, however, dis- 
gusted the people as a whole and caused a reaction 
against the Socialists. It was rather clever to dissolve 
Parliament and have an election while these dis- 
turbances are still in mind. 

''November 4. — The Tsar has decorated, and 
raised the rank of, the Russian Admiral who fired on 
the English fishing fleet. He believes the Russian 
statement that there were Japanese torpedo-boats 




W/////// /7// 





y yy/^/^J_ 



THE DUCHESS OF AOSTA 



imi AMBASSADOR TO ITALY 105 

among the fishing boats. The Russians are demoral- 
ized and frightened to death of the Japanese torpedo- 
boats. The general opinion seems to be that the 
Russians fired on their own boats! 

''November 9. — At 8 o'clock this morning re- 
ceived the following cable from Mr. Bliss, Treasurer 
of the National Repubhcan Committee : ' Probable 
plurality of Roosevelt in New York State 200,000; 
Higgins, Governor, 75,000. Electoral vote over 300. 

* Bliss.' 

"Wired at once the following: 

" * President Roosevelt, Washington : — The elec- 
tion shows the people appreciate your administration; 
also splendid about New York State; hearty congratu- 
lations. George Meyer.' 

" On account of difference in time, the President 
would receive my cable at the same hour at which I 
received the above. 

'' November 10. — It appears that Roosevelt has 
carried every doubtful state and has an electoral vote 
of 317. Pennsylvania goes Republican by 300,000, 
and New York by 200,000 — the pluralities being 
greater than those of McKinley, and Parker has fallen 
behind Roosevelt [Bryan?]. 

" The most astounding thing is that in this Re- 
publican landslide Massachusetts has elected a Demo- 
cratic Governor, Douglas by name, a shoe-manufac- 
turer known as the ' $3.00 shoe man.' I await the 
papers with great interest, to analyse the vote and to 
learn the causes. 

" C. F. McKim cables that the American Academjr 



106 GEORGE yon L". MEYER f^^^^ 

accepts the offer, and will purchase the Yilla Mira- 
fiore. 

" November 14. — Received letters from State De- 
partment, dated 20th and 24th October; the former, 
invitation of the President to nations for a second 
Peace Conference at The Hague; the latter inviting a 
Treat}^ of Arbitration with Italy on same lines as were 
made between England and France one year ago. 

" Tittoni, Minister of Foreign Affairs, absent, and 
everybody had left the Foreign Office, celebrating the 
success of the elections. 

" The result of the elections very satisfactory and 
gratifying. They have had no issue since 1870; this 
time the lines were drawn : * those for order and those 
against.' It seems to signify that in an issue of impor- 
tance, i.e., the welfare of the nation, the sober judg- 
ment of the people can be relied upon. 

"November 15. — Called at the Foreign Office 
and talked with Fusinato, 1st Under-Secretary of For- 
eign Affairs. He told me that I could cable my 
government that Italy was favourable to an arbitra- 
tion treaty, same as England and France had made 
a year ago. As to a second Peace Conference, 
they would reply to the President's invitation this 
week. 

" November 19. — Cable the State Department 
that Tittoni, Minister of Foreign Affairs, officially in- 
forms me that His Majesty's Government will par- 
ticipate with pleasure in the invitation of the Presi- 
dent to a second Peace Conference, reserving the fol- 
lowing points: — 



imi AMBASSADOR TO ITALY 107 

(a) Subjects which might come before the Con- 
ference. 

" (6) The time at which it should be held. 

" The course coincides with England's. I had 
urged Italy to do this at once, without waiting for 
the other countries. 

"^ November 30. — The King opens Parliament, at- 
tended by the royal family. Count of Turin on one 
side and the Duke of Genoa on the other. Duke of 
Aosta could not come on account of the sickness of the 
Duchess. The Queen and her ladies in the royal box, 
the Chiefs of Mission and their wives in the adjoining 
one on the right; on the floor were the Senators and 
Representatives. 

" The speech of the King was well received. The 
main point was liberty and freedom as long as they 
are within the law. The great question was the better- 
ment and uplifting of the working classes. 

'^ December 7. — Audience with the King at 11.40. 
Presented the President's autograph letter acknowl- 
edging the birth of the Prince of Piedmont. The King 
spoke of the enormous money we were appropriating 
for a Navy, prophesied that we would take or control 
all the country north of the Panama. Asked what 
we were going to do to discipline Hayti and 
Venezuela. 

"^ December 8. — In the morning I went to the 
Vatican celebration of the Immaculate Conception at 
St. Peter's. This Pope ^ was carried in for the first 
time. He rose in his chair with righteous indignation 

iPiuaX. 



108 GEORGE von L. MEYER l^^^^ 

when the people attempted to applaud. . . . About 
60,000 people in the Cathedral. 

" December 29. — Received a cable from Henry 
Cabot Lodge, saying ' Do not answer the President's 
letter until you get mine.' Rather mysterious, and 
will be interesting to see what the President has 
written, and to know why Lodge has cabled as above. 
LTndoubtedly concerns my future after March 4. 

" December 30. — The King and Queen receive the 
Corps Diplomatique at 9.30. . . . 

" The King asked me if I was going as Ambassa- 
dor to Paris, and said of course it was considered an 
advance. I told him I should be sad to leave, but knew 
nothing official. After Captain Howard^ was pre- 
sented to the King, His Majesty told me an amusing 
story of one of their vessels which had only done 9 
knots an hour, ran on the rocks, broke off one of its 
blades, and immediately accomplished 10 knots. 

"December 31. — The Queen Mother (Marghe- 
rita de Savoie) received the Diplomatic Corps — at 5 
the Embassies, and at 6 o'clock the Legations. . . . 

" The Queen asked me if it was true that I had 
been appointed Ambassador to Paris. I was obliged 
to say that I had received no official notice and only 
knew what I saw in the papers, and added that I 
should be very sad to leave Rome, every one had been 
so kind to us and made our life delightful. She added, 
* Rome will be more sad to lose you.' 

"January 7, 1905. — Get Cabot Lodge's letter of 
December 27. The President had intended to send 

1 Newly appointed Naval Attache at the American Embassy. 



1905} AMBASSADOR TO ITALY 109 

me to Paris, but now desires me to go to St. Peters- 
burg. Considers it the most important post at the 
moment. I am sorry on account of my family. 

"^ January 8. — Wrote Cabot Lodge yesterday, 
and told him that the papers on the Continent and 
the Court here believe I am going to Paris. My 
answer was, ' I only know what I see in the papers.' 
Bismarck once said, ' If you do not want to be be- 
lieved, tell the truth.' I fully realize the importance 
of the post, especially now that war is raging. On re- 
ceipt of the President's letter I shall cable ' Accept 
with pleasure; appreciate the compliment.' My boy I 
shall send to Groton. How the climate suits my girls 
remains to be seen. 

" January 14. — Received a long cable from Hay, 
took one hour and forty-five minutes to translate it; 
concerning the integrity of China and the open door 
policy in the Orient. 

" Italy entirely in accord with us on both these 
points in case of peace between Japan and Russia, and 
cable to that effect to Washington. Received cable 
from Charley McKim, in which he said my cable of 
fehcitation added much to the success of the dinner of 
the American Architects in Washington, at which the 
President was present and the purchase of a perma- 
nent home in Rome was announced." 

President Roosevelt's letter, shrewdly anticipated 
as concerning Meyer's future after March 4, did not 
reach him until January 20. It was dated December 
26. A considerable portion of it revealed the Presi- 



110 GEORGE VON L. MEYER f^^^^ 

dent's keen interest in the Far Eastern situation; the 
final paragraph spoke clearly for one point of his gen- 
eral policy: " Our Navy is year by year become morei 
efficient. I want to avoid any blustering or threaten- 
ing, but I want to be able to act decidedly when any 
turn of events menaces our interests, and to be able to 
make our words good once they have been spoken ; and 
therefore I need to know each phase of any new situa- 
tion." It is the first long paragraph of the letter thai^ 
has its appropriate place in the record of George 
Meyer's life; for besides stating with characteristic 
vigour President Roosevelt's conception of the func- 
tions of an ambassador, it gives forcible expression to 
his confidence that Meyer was the man to perform 
them in the difficult Russian post. Thus he wrote : — 

I desire to send you as Ambassador to St. Petersburg. 
My present intention is, as you know, only to keep you for a 
year as Ambassador; but there is nothing certain about this, 
inasmuch as no man can tell what contingencies will arise in 
the future; but at present the position in which I need you is 
that of Ambassador at St. Petersburg. St. Petersburg is at 
this moment, and bids fair to continue to be for at least a year, 
the most important post in the diplomatic service, from the 
standpoint of work to be done ; and you come in the category 
of public servants who desire to do public work, as distin- 
guished from those whose desire is merely to occupy public 
place — a class for whom I have no particular respect. I 
wish in St. Petersburg a man who, while able to do all the 
social work, able to entertain and to meet the Russians and 
his fellow-diplomats on equal terms, able to do all the necessary 
plush business, — business which is indispensable, — can do, in 
addition, the really vital and important things. I want a man 



1905} AMBASSADOR TO ITALY 111 

who will be able to keep us closely informed, on his own initia- 
tive, of everything we ought to know ; who will be, as an Ambas- 
sador ought to be, our chief source of information about Japan 
and the war — about the Russian feeling as to relations between 
Russia and Germany and France, as to the real meaning of 
the movement for so-called internal reforms, as to the condition 
of the army, as to what force can and will be used in Man- 
churia next summer, and so forth and so forth. The trouble 
with our Ambassadors in stations of real importance is that 
they totally fail to give us real help and real information, and 
seem to think that the life-work of an Ambassador is a kind 
of glorified pink tea-party. Now, at St. Petersburg I want 
some work done, and you are the man to do it. It happens to 
be the only Embassy at which I do want work done just at 
present. There is at St. Petersburg, in the English Embassy, 
an Englishman whose name I will not give you, but whom I 
shall ask to call on you and talk freely over the situation, 
alluding to what he has written me. I have gained the most 
valuable information from him — better information than I 
have ever gained from any of our own people abroad, save only 
Harry White. Our First Secretary, Spencer Eddy, has also 
written us continually and given us good information. . . . 

Meyer made immediate reply, in a letter illustrat- 
ing his readiness both to give the President whatever 
information he could obtain, and to work as he had 
been " accustomed to work at home " : — 

To President Roosevelt 

Rome, January 20, 1905. 
My dear Mr. President, — 

Your letter of December 26th in the United States Em- 
bassy bag, reached Rome yesterday (January 19th). This 



112 GEORGE VON L. MEYEH ^^^^^ 

gives you a good idea of the time it occasionally takes for 
dispatches to reach me. It was handed to me this morning, as 
I had been duck-shooting on the coast for the day. After 
reading it carefully, I cabled you as follows : " Letter received 
to-day; appreciate the compliment, accept with pleasure." 

I did this for the reason that as so much time had been 
consumed before getting the note, it was only proper that you 
should have an acknowledgment at once, as this letter will 
probably take two weeks more, before it is received by you. I 
fully realize the compliment you have paid me, and will en- 
deavour to carry out your wishes to the best of my ability, and 
will lose no opportunity to post myself. 

Day before yesterday [an American nawspaper 

correspondent] called on me. He had just arrived fronj Yoko- 
hama and has been with the Japanese army. To identify 
himself, he presented a circular letter of introduction issued by 
the State Department and addressed to the Diplomatic Corps 
and Consular Service. 

The object of his call was to get advice about Macedonia, 
as he received a dispatch stopping his return home and in- 
structing him to go to Macedonia and write up that question. 
To my surprise, I found in talking with him about the Russian 
war, that his sympathies were no longer with Japan. In fact, 
he seemed quite antagonistic and remarked that it was almost 
the universal feeling of English and Americans in the East. 

To express it in 's own words : " The Japs are play- 
ing a big game before the world and for the moment are playing 
it straight and for all it is worth. They at heart do not care 
for any whites, not even for the English or Americans, who 
are useful to them now, and are working them for all they can. 
They laugh in their sleeves about the open door in INIanchuria, 
for when the time comes they can beat us in manufacturing, 
due to cheap labour, and therefore get the trade. They are most 



1905} AMBASSADOR TO ITALY 113 

untruthful and deceitful as well as tricky in business transac- 
tions, and think nothing of breaking a contract if not profit- 
able. The banks and bankers, for a position of trust and con- 
fidence, never think of employing Japanese clerks but employ 
Chinese." This last statement I had heard before from a most 
reliable source. 

When I asked if he thought Russia's word could be 

relied upon, his answer was " no," but their competition in trade 
would have been very mild, compared to what Japanese will 

probably be. went so far as to say that the Japanese 

officers realized that, when their army was at its best and nearly 
double that of the Russian army, they had not been able to 
defeat or put to route Kuropatkin's army, and he, , be- 
lieves that they would never defeat the Russian army in Man- 
churia. 

I quote this merely as an illustration of an American news- 
paper correspondent who has been with the Japanese army. 

As to the integrity of China and the open door in Man- 
churia, Italy is willing and ready to follow our lead. Last '■ 
Sunday evening the King informed me that they were going to = 
remove their remaining troops in China, leaving only a small 
guard at the Legation in Peking, and that they should keep but 
two men-of-war in Chinese waters. He then asked me how the 
theory originated that new possessions might, under certain 
circumstances, be given to neutrals in case of peace between 
Russia and Japan ; and on my professing ignorance he said, I 
with almost a twinkle in his eye, " It certainly could not be a ', 
German thought." 

I find that many leading Italians look with confidence to 
our Government for the future policy in China, as the influence 
which can best be trusted in the Orient. 

Barrere, the French Ambassador here, whom I know very 
well, had told me, before this last Russian loan was announced. 



114 GEORGE YON L. MEYER t^^os 

that the Berlin bankers had demanded a part of the new Rus- 
sian loan and the French financiers allotted one-third to 
Berlin. This was in order that the German bankers might 
make their commission; but it was felt that only a small part 
would be subscribed in Berlin and that the over-subscriptions 
in Paris would take care of it. However, on the contrary, it 
was several times over-subscribed in Berlin. 

This is not necessarily a sign of sympathy towards Rus- 
sia, as, where investments are concerned, sympathy generally 
goes to the winds, but it is a strong evidence of a belief, 
as far as Berlin is concerned, in the future stability of the 
Russian Government and a final settlement of the war, which 
will not weaken her resources to the extent of affecting the 
public credit. Last winter, when I was in Berlin, there seemed 
to be a fairly strong under-current of sympathy with Japan. 

Now there is one point on which I would like your support, 
if I may have it. 

All the important Governments send their bag by a courier, 
so that it is not out of their possession until they cross the 
frontier. If I am to write freely and give such information 
as I can acquire, it is valuable that secrecy should be main- 
tained as far as Russia is concerned, for two reasons : one is 
that otherwise I might soon lose my usefulness if I became in 
a way persona non grata; second: the sources of obtaining 
information, with all freedom of the press abolished and a strict 
censorship of all literature, must naturally be limited and 
therefore [it would be] unwise to take chances of having the 
remaining sources discovered and possibly cut off. My idea is, 
if it has not already been adopted, of having a reliable courier 
(American) transport the bag to either the American Embassy 
in Paris or Berlin, and from there have it transported in the 
usual manner. The courier, on returning to St. Petersburg, ,j 
would convey the pouch coming from Washington, 



i 



1905} AMBASSADOR TO ITALY 115 

An Austrian Secretary from St. Petersburg (I will not 
mention his name now) told me this week that their Ambas- 
sador had just obtained a conge for three months, feeling that 
[there] was going to be a revolution. An Ambassador that 
leaves his post from fear of revolution must have lost his use- 
fulness. It is possible, however, that the Balkans may have 
something to do with it. 

In conclusion I would say, Mr. President, that you are 
quite correct in thinking that I prefer a position where there 
is something of real importance to be done, as I was accus- 
tomed to work at home. 

' Believe me, 

Respectfully yours, 

George v. L. Meyer. 

Passages from Meyer's diary, supplemented by let- 
ters to President Roosevelt and Senator Lodge, will 
sufficiently tell the story of his final weeks in Rome. 
It is possible only to present typical bits of evidence 
of the careful preparation he was giving himself for 
the important work awaiting him, and of the many ex- 
pressions from Italian friends testifying to the place 
he had made for himself in their esteem and affection. 
The complete chronicle of farewell dinners, private and 
semi-public, as the day of departure drew near, would 
alone fill many pages. 

'' January 22. — A great strike in St. Petersburg. 
Father Gapon made a pathetic appeal to the Tsar to 
receive a petition of the workmen in front of the Win- 
ter Palace, guaranteeing his personal safety. He also 
warned the Tsar, if they should not be allowed to hand 
it to him in person. They assembled in front of the 



116 GEORGE VON L. MEYER ^^^^5 

palace and were fired upon by the troops, causing 
much bloodshed. Probably the commencement of a 
revolution, and possible fate of the Tsar as ruler of 
Russia. 

''January 23. — The affairs in Russia look very 
serious and conflicts between the troops and the work- 
men are increasing. It is said that the Tsar and his 
family have left St. Petersburg. The troops continu- 
ing to fire on the crowds. 

"Dine at Marquis Rudini's, son of the former 
Premier. The principal topic of conversation is the 
condition of affairs in St. Petersburg and other parts 
of Russia. Little or no expressions of sympathy are 
made for the Tsar or the Grand Dukes of Russia. 
Possibly the scene in front of the Winter Palace will 
entirely change the future history of Russia. 

To President Roosevelt 

Rome, January 28, 1905. 
My dear Me. President, — 

Since my letter of a week ago important and tragic 
events have taken place in St. Petersburg and other parts of 
Russia. Possibly the future of the Muscovite Empire has been 
seriously affected by the scenes which took place before the 
Imperial Palace. The historical relations between the people 
and the Tsars explain how it was possible that those unarmed 
Russians should have entertained the hope that they would be 
permitted to see the Tsar in person and lay their petition at 
his feet. The pathetic trust the people have put in the Tsar 
has faikd them, and they have lost their blind faith in him, 
and they are now ripe for socialistic agitations. 

What an opportunity the ruler of Russia has lost! He 



19051 AMBASSi\DOR TO ITALY 117 

might have gained the love of his people and respect of the 
world. A prominent Italian said to me : " Your President would 
not have hesitated a moment to receive the delegation." I re- 
plied : " No indeed, or met them in the open square." 

The appointment of General Trepoff, as Governor General, 
will result in putting down the strikes in St. Petersburg 
by acts of the greatest severity. He has a long record 
of brutality, cruelty, and bad faith. The orders to fire on the 
crowd have aroused the opinion of the world against a gov- 
ernment which shoots down unarmed people, without actual 
necessity. I find this sentiment already among the diplomatic 
representatives of the various countries. I take pains, how- 
ever, to express no criticism, for obvious reasons. 

The strikes have now spread to other cities. It is the first 
time in Russia that a strike has been organized in a compre- 
hensive manner, as is done in other countries, so as to consoli- 
date the working-men. 

The view seems to prevail among the best informed that, 
while the spirit of revolution is awake throughout Russia, it 
is not in such a shape as to give practical expression to the 
voice of the people, due to geographical conditions, lack of 
ammunitions, financial support, and proper leadership. 

It is felt by some that, if the Tsar has only the moral 
courage, it is not too late for him to lead the way to a peaceful 
solution of the internal troubles by granting certain of the 
most needed reforms. 

The position of France, a republic, is a peculiar one, as 
she has united her destinies with Russia by an alliance, and 
has furnished her with almost unlimited supplies of money. 
The French Ambassador here shows signs of nervousness, and 
is quite frank before me in criticizing the mis-management 
and blunders of the Russian Government. He told me just 
I after the war broke out that he had the refusal for the Rus- 



118 GEORGE vox L. MEYER t^^^^ 

sians of two Argentine and two Chilian cruisers, all of about 
9,000 tons (two of which were being finished in Genoa and finally 
secured by the Japanese). When the Russians did not avail 
themselves of this opportunity, he felt sure it was for the 
reason that they did not believe war would take place. He has 
since discovered that the real cause was that a certain Grand 
Duke insisted that fifteen per cent was to be added to the 
price and the same paid back to him. This was refused and 
the transaction fell through. 

Prince Ouroussow, the Russian Ambassador here, was 
this week transferred to Vienna; it was rumoured that Cassini 
might come here, but I have since learned that the Minister of 
the Interior in St. Petersburg is to be appointed Ambassador 
in Rome. His name I cannot recall at the moment. 

The Japanese Minister, Mr. Ohyama, informed me that 
he considered the present J^onditions in Russia equivalent to 
another victory, as far as Japan was concerned, and must tend 
to hasten peace. 

Respectfully yours, 

George v. L. Meyee. 

[^Diary~\ 

" Vehruary 1. — Wrote to the State Department 
tendering my resignation to the President as Ambassa- 
dor to Italy, to take effect March 4, or on the appoint- 
ment of my successor, as may suit the President's 
convenience. 

" On the election of a President or even reelection, 
it is customary to tender your resignation as Ambassa- 
dor, also as member of the Cabinet. 

" The Civil List of about $3,700,000 was approved 
this week, by a vote of 253 to 32. This was the annual 



1905] AMBASSADOR TO ITALY 119 

allowance made to King Humbert. Some of the lib- 
eral papers have urged reduction; the vote shows 
demonstration of V. E. Ill's popularity. He is very- 
democratic, and some Roman princes speak of him as 
being socialistic. 

''February 4. — Received a letter from Cabot 
Lodge, saying President was much gratified by receiv- 
ing my cable accepting Ambassadorship at St. Peters- 
burg. Said my name would be sent to the Senate soon 
after March 4; that the President would want me to 
go in March, as soon as possible; that Harry White 
was to succeed me here. 

To Senator Lodge 

Rome, February 9, 1905. 
Dear Cabot, — 

Day before yesterday I had an opportunity to have a long 
talk with M. Bernoff, Lieutenant Colonel aux chevalier-gardes 
de S. M. rimperatrice douariere, and now attache in Rome. In 
speaking of the disturbances in Russia, he talked quite freely. 
He assured me that he knew officially that the number of killed 
and murdered had been greatly exaggerated. He acknowledged 
that there had been serious strikes, and that they had spread to 
other cities and towns in Russia ; but he said : " They have been 
confined to the workmen. You have had serious strikes in 
America and so they have had in France. In Russia they are 
attracting the attention of the world at the time, for two rea- 
sons : one is that a certain socialistic element had endeavoured 
to use the strikes to help their cause and make it appear to the 
world that it is a revolution; the other is that, due to the 
fact that we are at war with Japan, any internal trouble 
attracts great attention at this time. Now we are not an indus- 



120 GEORGE VON L. MEYER t^^^^ 

trial country, and the fact that our working classes In factories 
of certain industrial centres arc on a strike is not serious, as 
far as a revolution is concerned ; they make up too small a 
part of the population of Russia. If you should tell me that 
the peasants had risen and were in revolt, then it would be 
serious and might mean a revolution. I know our peasants, my 
property is so situated that I live among them in the summer. 
They do not want a constitution, they do not even know what 
it means. They do, however, desire certain reforms and powers 
given to the Zemstvos, some of which are desirable ; but they 
are not ripe for a revolution nor are they a party to it." 

It so happened that the next day I met at lunch M. le 
Commandant de St. James, the French attache militaire. He 
was in Peking during the time that the various Legations were 
besieged. He informed [me] that three days ago he received a 
letter from his brother, who is the managing director of the 
Wagon-Lits Company in Russia. He has occasion to travel a 
great deal in all parts of the country, including the important 
cities. He was in St. Petersburg at the time of the disturbances. 
It was impossible for him to report accurately as to the number 
of killed and wounded ; but outside of that he stated that the 
accounts that had been sent out were not exaggerated; if any- 
thing they had been understated. The crowd that approached 
the Winter Palace was not a dangerous one, and he believed 
could have been held under control without the use of fire-arms. 
Women, children, and innocent people were shot down without 
fair warning The action of the Government had alienated a 
large class of people, had shattered their faith in the Tsar, 
which, rightly or wrongly, had heretofore existed, and now so 
much feeling and sentiment had been aroused that it was his 
belief that sooner or later a revolution would come about. 

\'\niat makes me believe personally that public sentiment 
is stronger than ever before and that it is realized in Russia, i 



19051 AMBASSADOR TO ITALY 121 

is the fact that the Grand Duke Vladimir and one or two others 
have allowed themselves to be interviewed on the matter. They 
are not really disturbed by the sentiment in America or 
England, but the fact that a certain element in France has 
been aroused is causing them some uneasiness, as it might 
affect the French Cabinet and finally the relationship between 
that country and Russia. 

In fact, Barrere, the French Ambassador, tells me that 
Loubet had seen certain signs of this movement, and had inti- 
mated to the Tsar that Russia would do well to take heed, and 
take into account what public sentiment might bring about 
under certain conditions. 

I shall take pains to see that Colonel de St. James 
arranges to have this gentleman call on me in St. Petersburg, 
as he can be very valuable in giving me, later on, information 
as to the true sentiment and state of affairs in various parts 
of Russia. 

' Sincerely yours, 

Geoege v. L. Meyer. ' 



To President Roosevelt 

' Rome, February 14, 1905. 
My dear Mr. President, — 

In my letter of January 20 I stated that the Russian loan 

in Berlin had been several times over-subscribed. That was 

the information officially given out after the manner of certain 

industrial trust combinations, which were supposed to have 

been put out on the public successfully by Wall Street people. 

History sometimes repeats itself. The Russian loan, it turns 

out, went very badly in reality, and had to be taken up by the 

underwriters. My authority is the new English Ambassador, 

Sir Edwin Egerton, with whom I dined last night. The source 



122 GEORGE von L. MEYER ^^^^^ 

of his information he considered most reliable ; he added that 
it was almost inconceivable that in the last twenty years, with 
tlie world advancing, Russia makes no progress, and even de- 
teriorates. His wife is a Russian woman. 

To-day I went shooting with the King, and he corrob- 
orates what Egerton has said about the Russian loan. As we 
were walking to the shooting-stands, he stopped suddenly and 
said: " I see it is officially announced that you are going to St. 
Petersburg ; of course it is a promotion and a compliment, but 
you have got a difficult task. I will even make a prophecy that 
your country sooner or later will have trouble with Russia over 
China. Russia with everything tumbling down, as to her 
internal affairs, cannot continue the war with Japan. She 
will hope to make up by taking from China the equivalent of 
what she loses to Japan. Russia's diplomacy is based on mis- 
representations and lies, and she cannot be trusted. In addi- 
tion to her alliance with France, I feel sure that she has made 
some agreement with Germany, even in writing. The fact that 
Russia is replacing her modern guns on the frontier with 
obsolete ones is additional proof." 

The King stated that he was in Russia once for three 
months, and that all his letters had been previously tampered 
with and opened. There is no doubt that it is regularly done, 
and individuals frequently send their letters across the frontier 
before they are posted, in order to insure their being un- 
opened. 

Within three months an employee of the Italian Embassy 
in St. Petersburg had been bribed for certain information, and 
at another Embassy (I was asked not to mention which), 
30,000 roubles were offered for the combination of the safe, in 
order to get at the cable code. 

I have mentioned this to show the importance of the Em- 
bassy having its own messenger to convey the Government's 



19051 AMBASSADOR TO ITALY 123 

bag to the frontier, i.e., if my dispatches are to be in any way 
confidential. 

Believe me, 

' Respectfully, 

George v. L. Meyer. 
As your representative I had to keep up the reputation of 
a sportsman. I shot three wild boar and one white deer. 

^^ February 17. — Gave a dinner to the English 
Ambassador, Sir Edwin Egerton, and Lady Egerton. 
The English Ambassador upset the dinner by an- 
nouncing the death of the Grand Due Serge by a bomb 
in Moscow just as we were going in. This was very 
tactless, as there were several Rusians present. The 
guests included the Turkish Ambassador, Duchess of 
Sermoneta, Mme. LeGhait, Mme. Mechin, Mrs. 
Travers, Princess Frasso, Countess Telfener, Count 
Moltke, Hon. Reginald Lister, Prince Frasso, Colonel 
Bernoff, Mr. Roukavichnikow. 

" The Grand Due Serge was actually blown to 
bits. He was the most hated of them all, on account 
of his severity, cruelty, and reactionary spirit. What 
will be the outcome of this in Russia? I am going 
there at a critical time. 

'^ February 18. — Write our names in the books of 
Russian Embassy, on account of the assassination of 
the Grand Due Serge. Everything seems to be going 
to pieces. No real head, no fixed purpose, except stub- 
bornness, which is the worst kind of stupidity. They 
got ready for war too late, sent reinforcements too late. 



124 GEORGE VON L. MEYER t^^^^ 

supplies too late, second fleet too late, small reforms 
given too late, Emperor received the workmen too 
late, and now they may ask for peace too late." 

To President Roosevelt 

Rome, February 21, 1905. 
My dear Mr. President, — 

I beg leave to report a conversation that I had last night 
after dinner at the German Embassy with the English Ambas- 
sador. In speaking of the conditions in Russia and the con- 
sternation due to the assassination of the Grand Duke Serge, 
he remarked that it is now thoroughly recognized by Russians 
that the present attitude of the Tsar, as to the war and 
internal affairs, cannot continue, and that radical changes will 
be brought about or forced upon him. The trouble was that 
the Tsar had no fixed or decided policy ; that Witte, whom he 
considered the best man in Russia for the present crisis, was 
holding off, because he does not want to take up matters until 
affairs are in such shape that he can be sure to bring about 
certain reforms and changes that he has long desired. 

The Ambassador then went on to tell me of his last inter- 
view (December, 1904) with the Japanese Minister in Madrid, 
whom he considered a very level-headed man. 

The Minister intimated that, under certain conditions, 
i.e., with a guaranty from England that it should not revert 
to Russia, they might concede Port Arthur to China; that in 
reality it was a port difficult to keep well dredged (there were 
other ports that were more valuable and accessible as far as 
they were concerned) ; that the Island of Sakhaline, of which 
they were deprived about 1870, was of considerable importance 
to them, due to the fishing banks (it has the fog-like character 
of Newfoundland) ; and that it was a matter of pride to them 
to regain this. 



1905} AMBASSADOR TO ITALY 125 

Whether there was any method in this outburst of the 
Japanese Minister at that time, I do not know; of course cir- 
cumstances have changed greatly since. The fact that he was 
speaking to an English Ambassador with a Russian wife may 
have accounted for the apparent frankness — provided he 
desired the information to percolate in two directions. 
Believe me, 

' Respectfully yours, 

' George v. L. Meyee. 



A visit to Berlin in February is described both in 
the diary and in letters to President Roosevelt and 
Senator Lodge. In the diary Mr. Meyer records an 
evening in Munich with his warm friends, the Count 
and Countess Somssich of the Austrian Embassy in 
Rome; a jocose reference of the Kaiser's, as on his 
yacht in Norway, to the confusion of American 
national airs; his suspicions of the purposes of Eng- 
land in China; and two meetings with Cecil Arthur 
Spring-Rice, the English diplomat, for whose friendly 
offices in St. Petersburg President Roosevelt was al- 
ready making provisions. But the letters to which 
allusion has just been made give the salient facts of 
the Berhn excursion. 

To President Roosevelt 

Rome, March 5, 1905, 
My dear Mr. President, — 

I desire to acknowledge your favour of February 6. It 

followed me and came to hand the morning after I reached 

Berlin. 



126 GEORGE von L. MEYER t^^os 

In my letter of February 14 I referred to a conversation 
with the King of Italy, in which he stated his suspicions of an 
agreement between Russia and Germany. Therefore I desired 
to get my impressions from the Emperor himself. 

I left here on the 24th of February, and announced that 
I was going to Berlin in order to consult Mr. Tower about 
houses, etc., in St. Petersburg; my real object was to obtain 
an informal meeting with the Emperor, and to hear what he 
might have to say as to Russia, as he can apparently be very 
frank at times. This came about quite naturally, by his invit- 
ing me to a ball at the palace, where I had an opportunity of 
a long and private talk, or rather hearing him. 

I gave His Majesty the message from your letter of Feb- 
ruary 14, which I was to deliver to the German Ambassador at 
St. Petersburg, i.e., how pleased you had been at the position 
taken by the Emperor, and that it was your belief that the two 
countries will be able to work together as regards our policy 
in the Far East. 

The Emperor instantly replied : " Position ! Tell your 
President that I am following his policy." He then went on 
very freely and fully about the importance of the neutrality and 
integrity of China — how the Tsar never expected war himself 
and could not be made to believe that it would take place until 
Japan struck her decisive blow at Port Arthur. He referred 
to Russia being unprepared and the terrible corruption that 
existed. At the end of our conversation, that there might be 
no misunderstanding on my part, I said: "Your Majesty, 
then I may report to the President that you are in favour of 
both the neutrality and integrity of China? " " Yes," he re- 
plied, "most assuredly; if there should be any partition now 
of China there is no knowing where it would end. Also say 
that I believe that neither Russia or Japan should be inter- 
fered with in any way ; but," he added, " tell the President to 



ms] AMBASSADOR TO ITALY 127 

keep his eye on Delcasse; I have my suspicions as to his plans 
and the action of France under certain possible circumstances." 

Every great power on the continent is more or less sus- 
picious of the others at the moment. While they do not love 
us, but envy our success politically and commercially, they 
respect us for the reason that, although the policy of the Gov- 
ernment may not meet their views, yet they realize it is con- 
sistent, straightforward, and that our statements can always 
be relied upon. 

I know of no greater compliment that could be paid to you 
and Mr. Hay than this recognition by the world of the high 
plane upon which you both have placed American diplomacy. 
' Believe me, 

' Respectfully yours, 

' George v. L. Meyer.' 

To Senator Lodge 

Rome, March 5, 1905. 
My dear Cabot, — 

... I was fortunate in finding Spring-Rice in Berlin, 
and also had a very satisfactory talk with him; he was most 
kind and cordial, and will be a great comfort and assistance, 
especially this summer. He, like most Englishmen, is very sus- 
picious of the Emperor, — taking into consideration what has 
transpired the last few years, this is not surprising, — yet at 
the moment possibly biassed in his judgment. The Emperor, 
on the other hand, has not the most cordial feelings for England 
and, in turn, is suspicious and prejudiced. The man, however, 
who, he thinks, requires the most watching at the moment is 
Delcasse. I find the tone of the French diplomats utterly dif- 
ferent than at the commencement of the war. They do not 
hesitate to criticize in plain language the incapacity of the 
administration of the Russian army and navy, and state that 



128 GEORGE VON L. MEYER t^*^^^ 

it is utterly futile for Russia to continue the war. One impor- 
tant Frenchman said to me that it was his impression that after 
the present loan of 800,000,000 roubles was floated, it would 
be very difficult to place another in France if the war 
continued. 

\_Diary'] 

'' March 6. — Received a telegram from Washing- 
ton, saying the President had appointed me Ambas- 
sador to St. Petersburg and that my name had been 
sent to the Senate. 

" Court Ball. The Court, having been in mourn- 
ing on February 20 for Grand Duke Sergius, gave 
only one ball. We arrived at 10.15, found every one 
in place and all the Diplomatic Corps present, except 
the British Ambassador and his wife, Lady Egerton. 
I was the dean of the Diplomatic Corps, as the Turkish 
Ambassador, Rechid Bey, and Barrere, French Am- 
bassador, were not present. The heat and the crowd 
were terrible. 

" At eleven o'clock the King and Queen entered, 
followed by the Master of Ceremonies and ladies-in- 
waiting. Countess della Trinita, Princess Teano, and 
Donna Franca Florio, looking exceedingly handsome. 
Had a long talk with the King. Again expressed his 
regret at my leaving. Told me of his experience in 
Russia. When he was in a port, he gave 20 roubles 
to a man. Shortly there was great fight over it. One 
man bit the tongue out of another, and he called the 
police, fearing his Italians would be injured. The 
police took the offending man, three stood on him, and 




hunting on the campagna : mr. meyer on his horse 

"ruby" 



■1905] AMBASSADOR TO ITALY 129 

a fourth beat him, and later took and held his head 
under water. His Majesty said it made him sick. 
It surprised the Russian that he stopped it. The 
King pointed out a man that he had arrested when an 
officer and put in prison for lying — was now a 
deputy ! 

" The Queen spoke first with the two Annunziate, 
then with the Ambassadresses, and then made the 
round of the room. After she had returned to her 
seat, as I was the dean, she sent for me first among 
the Diplomatic Corps. Asked how soon I was leav- 
ing, and said what a pity it was. The Russian defeat 
was referred to, and she said the King's sympathies 
were for Japan and that at table they were always 
talking about it. The heat was so great Julia had to 
leave the ball. Her mother and Alice received many 
compliments. 

" Take Alice hunting with me; poor sport, but 
beautiful day. 

'^^ March 8. — Senate confirms my appointment as 
Ambassador to St. Petersburg. Wire Eddy to hire 
the Countess Kleinmichel house ^ for an Embassy. 

" Kuropatkin seems to be retreating, but in some 
order." 

To Senator Lodge 

Rome, March 12, 1905. 
Dear Cabot, — 

Yours of the 25th ultimo received. I am much obliged 

for the hint as to the treatment McCormick " received from 

* Formerly occupied by the Spanish Embassy. 

2Kobert S. McCormick, of Illinois, Meyer's predecessor at St. Peters- 
burg. 



130 GEORGE von L. MEYER tJ905 

the Russians when the war broke out. I do not expect to be 
received with the glad hand or smiling countenance, but I 
shall insist upon receiving such recognition and courtesies as 
are due to me officially as Ambassador of the United States of 
America. The Government, however, puts me in an awkward 
situation by not furnishing a courier, as is done at the other 
Embassies, to convey the pouch across the frontier. Imagine 
if the United States Senators secretly read each others' letters ; 
the relations between some of them would certainly become 
strained, or at least, not be as cordial as they are now. Neither 
would it conduce to agreeable or better legislation. 

As I do not expect to go to Russia again, after I am 
through being Ambassador, it is really immaterial to me per- 
sonally whether they read my dispatches or not, except for 
the fact that their knowledge of the instructions sent to me 
or of my answers to the Department and private letters to the 
President will certainly restrict my usefulness and make it very 
hard to carry out his wishes. 

In order to obtain any results I should be put in a posi- 
tion to forward confidential reports that should not be read by 
the Foreign Office in St. Petersburg before they reach 
Washington. 

I mention this to you because, in my letter of January 
20 to the President, I asked if the question of a courier might 
have his support. In his favour of February 6 he does not refer 
to it. Now, I do not want to make this demand to the State 
Department if it does not meet with his approval. Therefore, 
if you could let me know it would be much appreciated.^ 

I quoted the opinions of the Russian attache and the 
French director in St. Petersburg, in order to show how far 
apart they were. While there is no question about the Russians 
lying, they are at the same time very stubborn and apparently 
unable to see the handwriting on the wall. 

1 Meyer's request for a special courier was granted. 



1905] AMBASSADOR TO ITALY 131 

Yesterday I had a half an hour call at my apartment 
from the Chinese Minister, who came with his French inter- 
preter. He informed me that in Peking they realized that we 
were the only country that was absolutely sincere, when we 
asserted that we desired no territory in their Kingdom, but 
were for the neutrality and integrity of China. He asked what 
we intended to send to Manchuria when the open door was 
established, and if Alaska joined Russian territory? I related 
to him that, in the last few years, we had taken in gold from 
Alaska as much if not more than we had paid Russia for the 
entire territory. I have never heard him laugh out loud before, 
but he threw himself back in his chair and seemed immensely 
amused by this. 

Barrere has written his colleague, the French Ambassador 
in St. Petersburg, to give me whatever assistance he can. 

The day after I was confirmed in the Senate, I cabled 
the State Department to send my letters of recall, official pass- 
ports for myself and family, and letters of credence, all 
together, direct to Rome, as it will assist me and expedite 
matters to have it done in that way. 

' Very sincerely yours, 

George v. L. Meyer. 

" March 19. — Farewell dinner given to us by sixty 
Italians at the Grand Hotel. They included the Ser- 
monetas, Teanos, Bruschis, Terranovas, Viggianos, 
Paternos, Caetanis, Sinninos (Colonna), Orsinis, 
Donna Franca Florio, Rudinis, Tittonis, Ruspoli, 
Grazioli, Guglielmis, Mazzoleni, Lecca Cappelli, 
Bourbon del Montis, Belmonti, Apollonj, Cavriani, 
Sforza, Pietromarchi, etc. 



132 GEORGE VON L. MEYER f^^^^ 

" It was a remarkable gathering of the Court ; the 
* Blacks,' the Cabinet were all represented. It was 
given in the library, beautifully decorated, in all seven 
tables, about ten each. The Duke of Sermoneta made 
the toast of the evening, being most cordial and com- 
plimentary in his remarks, and ended by saying that 
whenever we returned, we would find our welcome 
most cordial and their hearts as warm towards us as 
ever, and that our departure was a great loss to them 
and to Rome. 

" The young Marquis Guglielmi then spoke for the 
young Italians, in the same cordial and hearty man- 
ner, and was most complimentary to Alice and the 
girls. The speeches had been made in French, so 
I answered as follows : ' Mes amis, permettez-moi 
d'employer cette expression a votre egard. Je suis 
tres flatte et touche meme de votre attention ce soir. 
Dans toute ma vie je n'ai jamais ete plus content ni 
plus heureux que pendant mon sejour a Rome. Je 
pars maintenant, ou bientot, et ce n'est pas sans 
regret, je vous assure. Je me souviendrai tou jours 
avec affection de vos bontes et de votre hospitalite. 
Je desire vous remercier pour moi meme d'abord, et 
puis au nom de ma famille.' 

" The Duke thanked me for my remarks, and said 
that such a dinner had never before been given to 
any ambassador of any country!" 

From a letter to President Roosevelt, dated March 
25, a single sentence should be quoted: " This morning I 
received a letter from Eddy, in which he informs me 



:'l, 



1905^ AMBASSADOR TO ITALY 133 

that the German Emperor has sent an autograph 
letter to the German Ambassador there, asking him 
to show me eveiy courtesy and attention, and to be 
of as much assistance as possible." 

The diary proceeds : — 

" March 27. — Have asked for audience with his 
Majesty, as I intend leaving Saturday, April 1, and 
to be allowed to take my conge without presenting 
my letters of recall, which are to be presented by Mr. 
White ;^ also for an audience for Alice and myself with 
the Queen. Wired the Department that I had asked 
for farewell audiences and that Mr. White would 
present my letters of recall. Shall start for Paris, 
Saturday, April 1, and then proceed to St. Petersburg 
as soon as my letters of credence arrive. They are 
on the Lucania, which sailed from New York for 
Bremen, Saturday, March 25. 

'' March 28. — Farewell audience with the Queen 
Mother at 2.30. Received us most cordially, talked 
a good deal about Russia. She spoke of him [the 
Tsar] as a man who had not kept his word about 
Finland and treated the people abominably. I also 
recalled the fact that he had done so in regard to his 
returning the visit of the King of Italy. Gave me a 
list of very interesting books on Japan, which she 
wrote herself on my card. 

''March 29. — It is said that the Japanese are 
surrounding and cutting off the retreat of General 
Linevitch. If true, it will be a terrible defeat for the 
Russians. The talk for peace continues; the Japanese 

1 Henry White, Meyer's successor as United States Ambassador to Italy. 



134 GEORGE vox L. MEYER ^^^^^ 

have placed a loan in London and New York, and 
the French have given out that they will not make 
another loan unless peace is made. Meantime the 
Tsar has declined the good offices of the Emperor 
for peace. He cannot, and will not, be enlightened as 
to the terrible disaster awaiting his Empire abroad 
and at home. 

" March 30. — Farewell audience with the King at 
11 o'clock. Expressed great regret at my departure 
and hoped I would come back. I complimented His 
Majesty on the advance in prosperity which had taken 
place since my sojourn in Italy. I said I wished 
baccarat could be stopped at the clubs, as it was 
ruim'ng so many young men. ' There is a law against 
it.' * Yes,' I replied, ' but it is not enforced, and 
public sentiment should be aroused in the matter.' 
After a talk of half an hour the King ended the audi- 
ence by saying, ' The Queen and myself will have 
the pleasure of seeing you at dinner to-night.' He 
told me that he would guarantee to copy the seal on 
our pouch in two minutes, and was very glad to hear 
that I had obtained a messenger from my Govern- 
ment. 

" The King and Queen give us a farewell dinner 
at the Royal palace at 8 o'clock. I gave my arm to 
the Queen and the King escorted Alice, to my sur- 
prise going behind. The dinner was served in the 
room with five tapestries, that is used as a supper- 
room after a reception to the Corps Diplomatique. 
The King was not very talkative at dinner, but the 
Queen talked a good deal in French. She told me a 



ms] AMBASSADOR TO ITALY 135 

good deal of Russian life. As usual talked of her 
children. Was amazed when I told her that I had 
sold my auto for 35,000 francs; told the King about 
it across the table and said ' I wish you would stay 
and sell mine for that.' 

" After dinner Gianotti took me to another room, 
where we smoked our cigars. 

"^ March 31. — My first and farewell audience with 
the Pope. Alice, the girls, myself, and Bey had our 
audience at 12. He received us in his library and 
made us all sit down while he sat at his desk. He 
talked very clearly and distinctly in Italian, and I 
answered him in French. He told me that he was 
corresponding with the Tsar and prayed for peace. 
He noticed that Julia had a photograph of him in her 
hand, which he offered to sign. 

" Afterwards we paid our respects to Merry del 
Val, Secretary of State, in the Borghese apartment of 
the Vatican. We joked about young men getting in 
office both in America and in the Vatican. He is very 
clean-cut looking. 

''April 1. — Farewell audience with H.R.H. the 
Duchess of Aosta, at the Quirinal Palace, at 10 
o'clock. She received me in a most cordial and 
friendly manner. Looked very well. She was very 
outspoken about the Russians and the Grand Dukes, 
saying they were such terrible thieves. Another 
winter they were to live in Naples, and she hoped to 
get some riding, which I told her would be very easy 
if she lived in Capo-di-Monti. She was now going 
to join the Queen of England. After nearly an hour's 



136 GEORGE von L. MEYER ^^^^^ 

call, she wished me good-bye, asked me to send her 
mine and Alice's photographs. 

" Leave Rome at 1.40, on the train for Paris. All 
the Chefs de Mission were down to see me off, also 
Tittoni, Fusinato, Malvano, Gianotti, and a host of 
Italians. It was most flattering, and I felt really 
touched by their kindness and expressions, as though 
I was parting from old friends who have made my 
stay in Italy among the most delightful of my life, 
both for me and my family." 



IV 

Ambassador to Russia 

(1905-1907) 

The physical contrast between Rome and St. Peters- 
burg is accurately symbolic of the differences between 
the life and work of Mr. Meyer as Ambassador in 
Italy and in Russia. In changing the sunlight of his 
first post for the snows of his second, he changed the 
background of a peaceful and happy country for that 
of a land at once engaged in a losing fight with a 
foreign foe and distracted with internal troubles of a 
most sinister nature. He left a modern democracy, 
under the temperate leadership of a constitutional 
monarch, and went to the European capital at which 
autocracy was to be seen at its worst. In the nature 
of the case, his duties — and with them his responsi- 
bilities and opportunities — were enormously multi- 
plied. There were still many pleasures to be seized 
and enjoyed as they passed — pleasures of society, 
more intensively national, less cosmopohtan, outside 
the circle of diplomats, than in Rome; and of sport, 
distinctively Russian in many of its forms, and there- 
fore novel and noteworthy to an American. 

But the pleasures, the indispensable " plush busi- 
ness '* of an ambassador — as President Roosevelt 

137 



138 GEORGE von L. MEYER t^^^^ 

had so well defined it — could occupy but a secondary- 
place in the concerns of the representative of a great 
country and a great President in such a crisis of 
world-politics and history as that which coincided in 
point of time with the period of Meyer's service in 
Russia. Within two months of his arrival at St. 
Petersburg, it fell to him to conduct in person the 
negotiations with the Tsar which led to the Peace 
Conference at Portsmouth on the conclusion of the 
Russo-Japanese War; a Httle more than two months 
later, he secured from the Tsar, again in person, the 
agreements upon terms which brought about the sign- 
ing of the treaty; he followed with shrewd eyes the 
inward disturbances of Russia, watched the unpro- 
pitious opening of the Duma, and, further afield, the 
personal and international differences which the con- 
ference at Algeciras sought to adjust. As during his 
years at Rome, there were several meetings with the 
Kaiser, and, on his way home from Russia, audiences, 
besides, with the Kings of Italy and Great Britain. 
For all these reasons his diaries and letters in 
1905, 1906, and 1907, written in a Russia which since 
1914 has in many respects gone the way of Nineveh 
and Babylon, possess an uncommon interest and his- 
torical value. They deal with events and personalities 
so familiar and important that little explication is re- 
quired. Through the years of his ambassadorship in 
Russia, his family, because of the climate and condi- 
tions of the country, was with him less than in any 
period of his public life. For this very reason it may 
be that his own record of his daily experiences is the 



19051 AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 139 

more complete. It is so abundant that, more than in 
any other portions of this biography, it will of itself 
tell the story to be told. 

The diary, first of all, describes a few days in 
Paris, where on April 4 Meyer had an interview with 
Delcasse, French Minister of Foreign Affairs, who 
" tells me that no poiirparlers have commenced for 
peace and cannot until both are ready to do so." The 
next day he took the train for St. Petersburg. 

^'^ April 6, 1905. — Arrive at the frontier at 9 
o'clock. Immediately shown to a waiting [official]. 
Fortunately I spoke German, as they only understood 
that language and Russian. Impressed by the pe- 
culiar costumes — the coats having skirts and tied 
around the waists by a cord. The porters wear 
aprons. On handing in my passports and laissez 
passer, which had been vises, there was very little 
delay. 

'' April 7. — The Russian sleeping-car is the most 
comfortable that I have travelled in, being wider and 
higher than the ordinary, with electric lights, well ar- 
ranged, and comfortable beds, chairs, and well up- 
holstered. 

" The country was covered with snow, and the 
houses of wood; the forests and the fields reminded 
me of Canada, the architecture of the churches, how- 
ever, being absolutely different. 

" Arrived in St. Petersburg on time, at 2.25. Met 
at the station by Mr. Eddy,^ Mr. Bliss," the Consul 

1 Spencer Eddy, counsellor of the American Embassy. 

2 Robert Woods Bliss, Second Secretary. 



140 GEORGE VON L. MEYER ti905 

General, Mr. Watts/ Mr. de Frescheville, head clerk, 
and Mr. Vezey, my secretary. Went first to Hotel 
Europe, to see my rooms, which were very comfortable 
and spacious, with a modern bath-room and American 
fixtures. Then to the Chancery, where I found my 
credentials awaiting me. Cabled Washington that I 
had taken possession of my post." 

The diary proceeds with many details of the first 
days in St. Petersburg, summarized in the following 
letter to Mr. Meyer's uncle in New York: — 

To ThoTTMs Meyer 

St. Petersburg, 3/1 6 April, 1905. 
My dear Uncle Tom, — 

It may interest you to hear something about my arrival 
in St. Petersburg and presentation to Their Majesties the Tsar, 
Tsarina, and the Dowager Empress. 

After leaving Italy in the full bloom of springtime, with 
all the blossoms and flowers in the fields, it was rather a sur- 
prise to wake up after crossing the frontier and find myself 
in the midst of winter, with a severe snow-storm raging on all 
sides. I left Paris by the Nord-Express at two o'clock 
Wednesday, April 5, and arrived in St. Petersburg on Friday, 
April 7. The country between the frontier and St. Peters- 
burg, with its forests and fields covered with snow, and wooden 
farmhouses, reminded me very much of Canada, yet I realized 
how far off I was when I entered St. Petersburg and found the 
streets full of these little droshky sleighs, without any bells. 

I was met at the station by my secretaries and the Consul- 
Gencral and suite of the Embassy, and after inspecting my 
rooms at the Hotel d'Europe, went direct to the Chancery and 

1 Ethelbert Watts, of Pennsylvania. 



1905} AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 141 

took the oath of office. The following day I called on Count 
Lamsdorff, Minister of Foreign Affairs, presented a copy of 
my letter of credence and asked for an audience, in order that 
I might present the original to His Imperial Majesty. Count 
Lamsdorff does not suggest the typical Russian. He is rather 
a small man, with cordial manners, and not the type of the 
European diplomatist, except that he never expresses a decided 
opinion. 

Wednesday, April 12, was the day appointed for my 
audience with Their Imperial Majesties. A special royal train 
was assigned to take me from St. Petersburg, at 1.40, in which 
there were four masters of ceremony and my own suite. Arriv- 
ing at the station, which is only half an hour distant from St. 
Petersburg, I was received by the master of ceremony and his 
assistant at the station, where there were four gilded royal 
coaches assigned to convey me to the palace. In the first there 
were two masters of ceremony; in the second, which consisted 
of the royal coach swung on ancient C-springs, with coach- 
men, footmen, and outriders in royal livery, and drawn by six 
white horses, myself and the master of ceremony ; in the third, 
the secretaries of the Embassy, and in the fourth, the remaining 
aides-de-camp. 

The procession proceeded slowly, on account of the snow, 
to the park and palace of Tsarskoe Selo. The Emperor was not 
living in the great palace, but in the Alexander Palace, which 
is about four times the size of the White House, the exterior 
architecture being of that character, with a porch and columns 
at each end of the palace, the interior being Empire style of 
the best period. 

After we had alighted and entered the palace, and the 
members of the royal household had been presented, we formed 
in procession and marched slowly and solemnly to the reception- 
room hall of the Dowager Empress. She reminded me very 



142 GEORGE VON L. MEYER t^^os 

much of the Queen of England, due to her coiffure, a style 
which is rather peculiar to the present Queen of England and 
the Princesses. She expressed much interest in my sojourn in 
Italy, where she had never been, and also in the present trip 
of her sister, the Queen of England, throughout the Mediter- 
ranean. After the audience was completed, I presented my 
secretaries to Her Majesty and the procession formed again, 
marching to the other end of the palace, where the Imperial 
Guard was drawn up, giving the salute in honour of the 
Ambassador. 

On entering the reception hall, I was received at the same 
time by the Emperor and Empress, who were standing in the 
centre of the room. I made the customary three bows, one on 
the threshold, one halfway, and the other as I shook hands 
with the Emperor, and saluted and kissed the hand of the 
Empress. She had a very triste and restrained air, and has 
grown much stouter, as she has been nursing the Tsare- 
vlch. 

The photographs of the Emperor give one an excellent 
idea, as he resembles them strongly. He appears to be rather 
retiring and a little embarrassed in talking, but he looked in 
better condition than I expected. The conversation progressed 
rather hesitatingly, or without much fluency, until I happened 
to remark that I had met His Imperial Majesty's brother, the 
Grand Duke Michel, at Kiel, when I was racing there with the 
Emperor of Germany. He quite waked up then, and wished to 
know all about it, and as the incident^ was rather amusing, it 
broke the ice and made my audience pass off very pleasantly. 
It happened that I was at Kiel the summer of the King of 
England's coronation and had been racing the entire day on 
the Meteor with the Kaiser and Prince Henry. That evening 
we had gone into a little port called Eckernforde, where the 

iSee cmte, p. 61. 



1905} AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 143 

Emperor each year has a smoke-talk and beer evening at the 
little town hall, to which all the owners of the different yachts 
are invited. In the middle of the evening, while I was sitting 
next to the Emperor, Prince Henry came up and announced 
that His Royal Highness the Grand Duke Michel had just 
entered the harbour on the Russian yacht, having come straight 
from England, and that he desired to have an audience with 
His Majesty. The Emperor replied that that was impossible 
on account of his costume and the entertainment of the evening, 
but that he would be pleased to see him if he would come 
informally. Prince Henry disappeared, and returned in about 
an hour afterwards with the Grand Duke and his suite, who 
must have been surprised. The Emperor, as he entered the 
room, remarked to me : " I imagine this is the first time a Grand 
Duke has seen a King receive in such an informal way as this." 
I moved away, after being presented to the Grand Duke, in 
order to give him my place, and Prince Henry then told me of 
his experience. He had found it impossible to get hold of a 
launch, as they were all out at the yachts, not having been 
ordered to be at the docks until an hour later, so he hailed a 
fishing boat and was rowed out to the Russian yacht by three 
fishermen. When he approached, the flash-lights were thrown 
on him and he was forbidden to come on board. He said : " That 
incensed me for the moment, but I realized the situation and 
that it would be foolish for me to announce that I was Prince 
Henry, as it would not have been believed, but I stated that I 
was a German Admiral and insisted upon coming aboard. After 
some hesitation, I was allowed to approach the boat, and con- 
fusion reigned for a moment when they recognized who I was, 
and explanations and excuses on both sides were the order of 
the day." 

The Emperor and Empress laughed over the description, 
and after further conversation of about fifteen minutes, the 



144 GEORGE von L. MEYER t^^^^ 

audience was closed by the Emperor asking me to present my 
secretaries. 

The stories that he attempted suicide are foolish news- 
paper gossip. I was also surprised to see that the palace was 
not guarded, but there seemed to be simply two sentries at the 
gates. It is surrounded by a beautiful park with trees and 
drives and walks, and looks brilliant from the sun shining on 
the snow. 

All talk of peace seems to have evaporated for the present, 
a different aspect and condition of affairs being established by 
the arrival of Rodjestvensky's fleet in Chinese waters. They 
have great expectation of what he may be able to accomplish. 
The vital issues are, however, not in the East, but in the 
country itself, where the agitations are spreading in every 
direction among the people for a constitution or representative 
government. Unfortunately, the reactionists seem to have the 
ear of His Majesty, and while many promises are made for 
reforms, no progress is really made and nothing actually accom- 
plished. It seems to be a policy of drifting and postponing. 
The people are beginning to realize that it is a matter of words 
with the Government and not of action, and unless something 
is really done, the tendency in the land is towards revolution. 
The reformists, as well as the Government, are at a disad- 
vantage, because there are no real leaders ; but it is very sad to 
see this country drifting towards chaos from a lack of appre- 
ciation of the real situation and the necessity of reforms. 

I have nothing to criticize in the way of my reception. The 
Russians that I have met have been extremely courteous and 
in some cases hospitable, and there is nothing to complain of 
except the climate. I have leased the Countess Kleinmichel's 
house, which was formerly the Spanish Embassy, when Prince 
Pio of Savoy was here, a little over a year ago. My family 
are leaving Rome to-morrow and wiD work up slowly to Paris. 



1905] AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 145 

I have not quite decided when to let them come up here, as I 
am watching the trend of events. There is a good deal of 
nervousness among the people, though as far as the eye is con- 
cerned, the city is in a normal condition. There is a feeling 
that there may be a movement on the first of May throughout 
Russia, but I should be surprised if anything is really accom- 
plished, because the Government and the troops will be pre- 
pared, such a long notice having been given. 

I hope this finds you well after the severe winter that you 
have had in New York. I suppose by the time this reaches you, 
you will be thinking of running down to the Suffolk Club, and 
I envy your casting a fly for the trout. 

Sincerely your nephew, 

' George v. L. Meyer. 



In a letter to President Roosevelt, written three 
days earlier, Meyer had written thus of his first inter- 
view with the Emperor and Empress : — 

I had hoped I should see the Emperor alone, as the English 
Ambassador had told me that the young Empress was influencing 
her husband to continue the war and gain a victory. 

I delivered your instructions as cabled by Adee on March 
27, and she drew nearer and never took her eyes off the Tsar. 
When I pronounced the words : " At a proper season, when the 
two warring nations are willing, the President would gladly 
use his impartial good offices towards the realization of an 
honourable and lasting peace, alike advantageous to the parties 
and beneficial to the world," His Majesty looked embarrassed, 
and then said, " I am very glad to hear it " ; but instantly 
turned the conversation on to another subject, never alluding to 
it again. 



146 GEORGE von L. MEYER ^^^^5 

A postscript to this letter adds : — 

It is already said by a certain Grand Duchess that the 
Tsarina was present on purpose to prevent the Tsar commit- 
ting himself in any way or my having an extended conversa- 
tion. 

In his diary for April 12 Meyer, moreover, 
had written: 

" Delivered my special instructions from the Presi- J 
dent about offering to use his good offices for peace. ' 
He seemed embarrassed, merely said, ' I am glad to 
hear it.' The Empress watched him like a cat. She 
is for continuing the war." 

It was obvious enough that difficulties lay ahead. 
Meanwhile there were many signs that agreeable per- 
sonal relations would soon be estabhshed in the portions 
of St. Petersburg society with which Meyer was to be- 
come most familiar. Cordial audiences with the Grand 
Dukes followed in rapid succession before the end of 
April. Almost immediately upon his arrival he wrote 
in his diary : — 

" As yet I have received only politeness from the 
Russians, and in the most well-bred manner. Called 
on the different Ambassadors, but found only three 
at home: M. Bompard [the French Ambassador], who 
told me that he had already received a letter from 
Barrere about me (I envied the Government tapes- 
tries that he had in his house) ; Baron dAehrenthal, 
the Austrian Ambassador, who impressed me as a 
clean-cut, able man, high-bred looking; and Chevalier 



1905^ AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 147 

Melegari, the Italian Ambassador. Although we had 
never seen each other before, we met as old friends, 
having so many in common in Italy. Late in the 
afternoon drove to the Belosselskys. She was a Miss 
Whittier of Boston, and is one of the smartest women 
in St. P., and belongs to the most agreeable set. Polo 
is played in their grounds." 

Meyer himself was soon taking part in the game, 
and in many ways rapidly extending his acquaintance 
in St. Petersburg. The British Ambassador, Sir 
Charles Hardinge, and the German, Graf von Alvens- 
leben, begin to figure in his journal. The Turkish 
Ambassador tells him one day that he was in Paris 
during the Siege of 1870, and the Commune. " Dur- 
ing the Commune," the diary reports, " food got very 
scarce, and one day his cook said that he had been 
able to get a hare only with great difficulty; but two 
days later he noticed that his cat was missing, and 
found that he had eaten it." Employments of many 
kinds were soon filling the days as full as they had 
been at Rome. In a letter to his wife he described 
his first capercailzie, or " cock-of-the-woods," shoot, 
mentioned also in a letter of the next day to the 
President. 

To Mrs. Meyer 

St, Petersburg, 21/4 May, 1905. 
... Last Monday I went out with Csekonics^ to 
shoot the capercailzie. At the Club House we joined Prince 
Belosselsky and several other Russians. No Ambassador has 

1 Count Ivan Csekonics, Attach^, late Secretary of the Austrian Em- 



148 GEORGE VON L. MEYER t^^^^ 

been out there shooting since the Duke of Montebello was here 
as French Ambassador, They were all exceedingly polite, and 
I enjoyed it very much; but it is different from any sport that 
I have ever engaged in and very hard work. We sat up till mid- 
night playing bridge, and then had to start off for the woods, 
over the worst roads I have ever struck, in wagons with no 
springs. After going as far as possible, you get down and walk 
in leather boots up to your hips through the woods. That I 
enjoyed very much, because it was so weird and attractive. 
When we got near the rendezvous, in order not to disturb the 
game, I had to sit down and wait for the coming dawn, and it 
was so interesting hearing the different wood sounds. First, 
about 2 A.M., was the screech of the night-owl, and strange to 
say, the first bird that sang before the break of dawn was the 
grey partridge. Then came the call of the moose, and later 
on the signal of the capercailzie to his mate, for which we were 
waiting. Then we began stalking, so to speak, the bird, which 
is sitting in some high tree giving the peculiar sounds. You 
can only take about three steps at a time, and must stop 
instantly when he stops singing. Otherwise he takes alarm 
before you can get within gun-shot. The difficulty is to locate 
the tree in the midst of the forest, and to be able to outline the 
bird against the sky, becauce it is still dark, with a slight grey 
dawn, when you begin to shoot. I was very fortunate and 
killed two, which was the limit last year for one morning, and 
could have shot a third, but my guide prevented it, not knowing 
the regulations had been changed this year to three, which 
Belosselsky managed to obtain. We got back to the Club 
House between five and six, and then had coffee and eggs, and 
I turned in later and slept till noon. In the afternoon we went 
woodcock shooting but had very poor sport. It was the most 
difficult walking, as the roads are impossible, even for walking. 
One sinks almost to one's knees and slips, and we finally took 



1905] AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 149 

to the fields. That night we went through the same routine, 
only the birds would not give the call the next morning, as it 
was a day like the first of June at home. I never saw such a 
wonderful sunset, and I have never seen such neglected and 
undeveloped country. Great possibilities, but no organization 
and no energy. 

That day we got into St. Petersburg at eight o'clock in 
the morning, having been up all night, and I was indeed glad 
to jump into bed for three or four hours, as I was obliged to 
lunch at one and call at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the 
afternoon, where all of my colleagues assembled. The English 
and Spanish Ambassadors, however, are both away on leave. 

To President Roosevelt 

St. Petersburg, 22/5 May, 1905. 
My dear Mr. President, — 

Yesterday the Minister of Foreign Affairs received the 
Diplomatic Corps. There is always a reception of Ambassadors 
and Ministers in the ante-camera while they await their turn. 
Great interest and curiosity was expressed in the report that 
you had shortened your trip, and also in the coincidence of the 
German and English Ambassadors at Washington taking leave 
at the same time. 

Everything in St. Petersburg has been very quiet the past 
week, and Count Lamsdorff expressed ignorance as to whether 
the Rodjestvensky Fleet and the Third Baltic Fleet have united, 
or even as to their exact whereabouts. It is thought here that 
the Admiral has a free hand. 

The Ukase of the Emperor, granting practically religious 
freedom to all sects, except the Jews, makes a great concession 
to the party of reform, and if carried out in all its complete- 
ness, the greatest concession to individual liberty since the 
liberation of the serfs. 



150 GEORGE VON L. MEYER tiW5 

The conditions in the Caucasus and in Poland, especially 
Warsaw, are very unsatisfactory. 

I went out for a day's shooting of capercailzie with some 
Russians. It was only an hour and a half outside of St. Peters- 
burg and yet the road from the station to the Club, which, by 
the way, was a county road, was almost impossible. In America 
we would not think of attempting such a road with anything 
except a team of oxen. We, however, drove in a wagon with- 
out springs drawn by a pair of horses, and nearly upset, as it 
was, several times. The Russians acknowledge that this was a 
fair sample of their country roads. A characteristic feature, 
which exemplifies the extravagance and absolute lack of admin- 
istration in Russia, was observable in the fact that piles of 
crushed stone were on each side of the road. I asked why they 
had not been used to build the road with and make it passable. 
" Oh," was the reply, " those stones have been there for over 
five years — you see they are almost concealed by grass and 
weeds. The county officers have done nothing about it and the 
farmers or peasants are too lazy to do it themselves." 

The same want of system and lack of preparation has 
apparently existed in the War Department. A wounded officer 
who has lately returned from the war in Manchuria related that 
owing to procrastination the Department had neglected to make 
proper surveys and furnish the army with the necessary maps 
in order to familiarize the officers with the best roads and exact 
character of the country in which they were fighting, thus put- 
ting them to great disadvantage as compared to the Japanese. 

There seems to be a feeling here among some of the diplo- 
mats (on what it is based I do not know), that after the naval 
encounter the question of peace will be agitated and taken up 
in Washington. 

Schwab and Flint have both been here. The former has 
now left, but the latter still stays. They were in the same hotel 



1905^ AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 151 

with me. I know as a fact that they had several interviews with 
the Grand Duke Alexis, nominal head of the navy. Schwab is 
supposed to have made two separate offers, one to build and 
supply a fleet of battle-ships of most approved model and up- 
to-date, delivered within three years, the other to set up ship- 
yards in Russia. The propositions are supposed to have 
attracted the Russian Government and met with a favourable 
reception. Nothing was absolutely settled, and Flint has stayed 
on in the hopes of consummating a deal. The Emperor's 
approval has not yet been obtained, and it is probable that 
nothing will be concluded until after the naval encounter, if 
then. 

In my dispatch to the State Department, No. 16, dated 
15/28th April, I have reported fully the result of my pour- 
parlers with the Ministry of Finance in relation to the discrim- 
inating duties against American commerce. 

I remain, 

Respectfully yours, 

George v. L. Meyer. 

Before the end of May Mr. Meyer's wife and 
daughters joined him in St. Petersburg. Passing 
events are noted in the diary. 

'' May 31. — Lamsdorff sends word that he will be 
unable to receive the Diplomatic Corps. Probably on 
account of the defeat of the Russian fleet, he wishes 
to avoid the ordeal of seeing us all. 

" All the papers cry out in consternation in 
St. P. this morning at the catastrophe which has 
overtaken the Russian fleet. All the indignation and 
wrath is poured out freely upon the bureaucracy 
alone, which is held responsible for all the misfor- 
tunes of the war, and there is a general demand for 



152 GEORGE von L. MEYER ^^^^^ 

the immediate assembly of the representatives of 
Russia. 

"June 1. — The Russian fleet, it seems, was com- 
pletely shattered, and it has been an extraordinary 
victory for the Japanese. They attacked the Russian 
Squadron, southeast of Tsu Shima, sinking all but two 
battleships, the Orel and Nicolai, which they have 
captured, together with two cruisers. One cruiser, 
Almaz, one destroyer, and one hospital ship reach 
Vladivostok. The three Russian admirals are pris- 
oners of war in Japan, and about 3,000 of the crews 
and officers. The damage to the Japanese fleet very 
slight, one cruiser, and ten torpedo boats. This finishes 
Russia as a naval power at sea. 

*' June 2. — Alice and the girls have their audience 
with the Grand Duke and Duchess Vladimir. The 
audience was at 2.30 with the Grand Duchess only, 
but the Grand Duke, who had met Alice and the girls 
at Homburg, two years ago, came in and joined them. 
He asked the girls what they thought should be done 
now and Julia said, ' Peace ! ' He said, ' Why, and 
how would you bring it about? ' quite abruptly. They 
had been to a birthday lunch at Grand Duke Alexis', 
and I think he was a little excited. Contrary to cus- 
tom, he escorted Alice out of the room, to the surprise 
of his attendants, to the head of the stairs. He has 
given up going to the wedding of the Crown Prince at 
Berlin. The Grand Duke Michel is going instead. 

" June 3. — Count and Countess Trauttmansdorf ^ 

1 Count Charles Trauttmansdorf was Secretary of the Austrian Em- 
baeey. 



1905] AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 153 

and Eddy lunched with us. They were lately married. 
She is quite pretty, but very shy like all Austrian 
women when first married; but they get over 
that. 

" It appears that Admiral Togo waited for three 
months in the Tsu Shima Straits without its being an- 
nounced. Imagine the press in our country being will- 
ing to keep such a thing secret for even three days. 
The secrecy was remarkable and assisted materially 
in helping to make the surprise and destruction of the 
Russians so complete. Imperfect battle formation, 
wasting ammunition, and marked inferiority of the 
Russian gunnery caused defeat. 

'^' June 5. — Baron Rosen, the new Russian Am- 
bassador to Washington, and his wife lunched with us 
en petit comite, the Danish Minister, Mr. de Lovenorn, 
Eddy, and Bliss. The Rosens are leaving on Wednes- 
day, sailing June 28 on the Kaiser Wilhelm II. He 
will be much liked, I think, and is a great improve- 
ment over Cassini, who has never understood the 
American people or been in sympathy with them. 

" Every one is in the dark as to what is to be the 
future policy of the Emperor here. He should call a 
meeting of the Representatives at once, but as usual 
there is procrastination, no fixed policy, and matters 
drifting." 

The policy for which Russia was to pay so bitter a 
penalty at the end of another decade is indicated in 
the following letter to the President : — 



154 GEORGE von L. MEYER tisos 

To President Roosevelt 

St. Petersburg, 23/5 June, 1905. 
My dear Mr. President, — 

I cabled the Department June 2, in order to Inform you as 
to the conditions and state of mind in St. Petersburg. The 
press here were not allowed to announce the defeat with any 
particulars until three days after it was known to the outside 
world. 

It is almost impossible to obtain any authentic news as 
regards the conference held last week at Tsarskoe Selo. It is 
known that Witte, LamsdorfF, and KokovtzofF (Minister of 
Finance) were not present. It is pretty well assured that the 
Tsar is for continuing the war and the grand Duke Vladimir 
for peace. However, sentiment is quite united against paying 
a large money indemnity to Japan, and if the Mikado insists 
upon anything excessive, it may end in driving almost a united 
Russia into supporting the Tsar in continuing the war. Peace 
at any price is not desired, even by those who are disgusted at 
the way that the bureaucracy have conducted affairs since the 
war broke out. When it is a matter of roubles, there is no 
question as to their patriotism. 

I have spoken, in a previous letter, of the corruption that 
goes on in some of the departments. I quote the following from 
the Nasha Jizn : 

" It is affirmed that in ordering ships a big commission 
(40 millions from a credit of 400,000,000) goes to the officials 
of the Navy Department; and if the question were put to the 
manufacturers and furnishers, ' How much do you pay to the 
various persons who have to do the transmitting of orders and 
payments on orders?' that would give some idea as to how 
many extra ships could be built." 

The paper then goes on to imply that the best means of 
increasing the resources of the government and strengthening 



1905] AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 155 

its credit and ability to pay, would be to secure expert, honest 
men, institute thorough supervision, publicity, and prosecution 
of guilty persons, without regard to their position. 

In connection with the corruption above referred to, I 
notice that the Kassuga arid Nisshin, with their long-range 
artillery, were the first to inflict damage to the enemy's fleet. 
These two armoured cruisers sank three Russian vessels and 
received no injury in return. The Kassuga and the Nisshin 
were built at Genoa for the Argentine Government, and are the 
vessels that Barrere had the refusal of for the Russian Govern- 
ment. There being no commission in it for certain Russian 
individuals, the sale fell through.^ If a true history could be 
written of the misfortunes that have befallen Russia due to cor- 
ruption and graft, the world would be astounded. 

A discouraging report has got about that Monsieur Pobe- 
donostzeff at the last moment was able to persuade the Emperor 
not to sign the manifesto announcing that an assembly of the 
representatives of the people freely elected would immediately 
be convoked. It is still hoped that other influence will be 
brought to bear. Notwithstanding the naval defeat and great 
loss of life, I hear the theatres have been crowded throughout 
the week, as though nothing had happened. 

I am enclosing an article headed " What Now," which 
appeared in a Russian paper. It may interest you, as it refers 
to you, the Emperor William, and Admiral Evans. 

Since writing to Mr. Hay in Paris, I have again addressed 
a letter to him in London, which should reach him to-day, and 
in which I have gone into the question of discriminating duties 
imposed by Mr. Witte in 1901. Notwithstanding this disad- 
vantage, our exports to Russia were 32 millions. They could 
be doubled in value in a year if we could come to an under- 
standing with Russia. They are very anxious and ready to 

iSee a/nte, p. 118. 



156 GEORGE VON L. MEYER ^'^''^ 

come to some arrangement, and claim that if we will make 
some small concessions they will make big ones. In other words, 
they want to save their face. They are as stubborn as children 
and quite equal to doing nothing if we refuse to make any con- 
cessions whatever. The duties on machinery and tools have 
been advanced in the new treaty with Germany, which goes into 
effect the first of March, 1906 ; and unless we are able to come to 
some understanding, the discriminating duties will then be 
assessed on the new rates, which will probably kill American 
trade and Germany will be the country most benefitted. My 
dispatch to the Department of April 28 went into this question 
fully and I asked for instructions. It is nearly six weeks since 
I wrote, but I have not as yet received any reply. The Minister 
of Finance called at my residence about a week ago, and said 
that he realized the importance of our coming to some agree- 
ment in order to remove the restrictions on American trade, and 
he wished to assure me personally of his friendly feeling and 
willingness to do everything possible to bring about the desired 
results. 

Every one is really in the dark as to the Emperor's future 
policy. Procrastination, lack of decision, no plan of action 
appear to be the order of the day. 

Believe me, 

' Respectfully yours, 

George v. L, Meyer. ^ 

On the very day after the writing of this letter 
the Tsar was called upon, through the American Am- 
bassador, to render an immediate decision upon a 
matter of supreme moment. Meyer's diary of June 
6 and 7, 1905, tells in brief of the cabled instructions 
from President Roosevelt to seek an interview with 
the Emperor Nicholas II, and of the circumstances 



1905] AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 157 

attending the securing and the happy issue of the audi- 
ence. A letter to the President, written a few days 
later, deals more thoroughly with this achievement of 
a diplomatic task of extreme delicacy : — 

To President Roosevelt 

St. Petersburg, June 9, 1905. 
My dear Mr. President, — 

Tuesday morning, on receipt of the cable of June 5, I 
hastened to the Foreign Office and was fortunate enough to 
catch Count LamsdorfF as he was leaving in fifteen minutes to 
take the train for Tsarskoe Selo. When I asked for an audience 
with His Majesty, he said it would be difficult to arrange for 
several days. I offered, if it were feasible, to go down that 
afternoon or evening — that at any moment I was at his com- 
mand. He seemed surprised and almost offended at my urgency 
and replied, " You must realize that every hour of the Emper- 
or's time is taken up with engagements for several days, and to- 
morrow will be Her Majesty's birthday; there will also be a 
family breakfast in the Palace, and His Majesty has never 
granted an audience on that day." As time had flown and he 
was obliged to leave for the station, I said : " Your Excellency, 
will you deliver a message to His Majesty from the President? '* 
He looked rather surprised and answered, " Yes." Then I said, 
" It is this ; that the President requests personally that I have 
an audience in order that I may lay before His Majesty a 
proposition which I have received this morning by cable." His 
only answer was that I should have a reply before five o'clock 
that afternoon. At a quarter to five I received a message, that 
the Tsar had appointed 2 o'clock the next day (Wednesday, 
the birthday of the Empress!) for my audience at Tsarskoi 
Sel6. 

I called at the Foreign Office that evening and thanked 



158 GEORGE von L. MEYER f^^^^ 

Count Lamsdorff personally for his promptitude in the matter. 
He assured mc that a great exception had been made by the 
Emperor, and I assured him in turn that I appreciated it and 
that I realized it was out of compliment to the President. 

I left St. Petersburg at one o'clock Wednesday with Baron 
Ramsay, Master of Ceremonies, as my escort; a private car 
had been attached to the train. On the way down, Ramsay 
said, " I understand you are going on an important mission ; I 
hope you will be successful, but the Emperor is so weak and 
stubborn that I fear you have a difficult task." I said 
nothing. ... 

I arrived at Tsarskoe Selo shortly before two o'clock, 
entered the Palace by a private entrance, and was taken, with- 
out any formality, to the waiting-room adjoining the Emperor's 
study. Promptly at two o'clock the door of the study was 
opened and the Tsar came forward to meet me and received me 
very cordially. I thanked His Majesty in your behalf for 
receiving me on such a day, saying I realized it was the birthday 
of the Empress. He invited me at once to be seated near him 
at his desk. 

I stated first that you felt it was of the utmost importance 
that war should cease, and that this was also the opinion of all 
outsiders, including Russia's most ardent friends. The plan that 
you wished to propose for his consideration was that you should 
privately, on your own initiative and with absolute secrecy, ask 
both Powers whether they would not consent to meet, without 
intermediaries, in order to discuss the whole peace question. If 
Russia would consent, the President would try to get Japan's 
consent, not saying that Russia had consented. Russia's 
answer would be kept strictly secret as well as all that had so 
far transpired, nothing being made public until Japan also 
agrees. 

His Majesty said it was difficult for him to give a reply 



1905} AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 159 

at this time, because he felt he must ascertain what his people 
really wanted; he was in receipt of hundreds of letters daily, 
urging him to continue the war and offering money towards it. 
His Majesty added that he referred to the plain people as well 
as the nobility. He wished to be sure of what the nation really 
desired. 

When he finished, I said: " Will Your Majesty allow me to 
read my instruction?" (which I had previously paraphrased). 
Then I proceeded, laying stress on certain points. As I got no 
reply, I went on and endeavoured to appeal to him. I told him 
I had waited several days after the naval battle before I made 
any decision; I had then reported to my Government that, while 
the shock was severe and the disappointment very great, there 
was no cry for peace at any price, and that I believed that, if 
Japan demanded absolutely unreasonable terms or excessive 
indemnity, His Majesty would have almost a united Russia 
behind him. At which the Emperor rose from his chair, started 
to put out his hand, and said : " That is my belief, and I think 
you are absolutely right." I continued, saying that I had 
known you for thirty years, had watched your career, that you 
had won the absolute confidence and respect of the people of 
the United States, and that what you were doing now was from 
the highest motives, without any ulterior motive whatsoever. 
He assured me that he believed it and had every confidence in 
you. I told him that I realized how much harder it was in 
adversity to make a decision contrary to one's pride and ambi- 
tion, yet he would have the consolation, if he consented to your 
plan, of saving possibly hundreds of thousands of lives and 
doing in reality what was best for his people and his vast 
Empire, and at the same time winning the respect of the 
world. 

I called his attention to the fact that the war was not a 
popular one, yet his soldiers had shown themselves brave beyond 



ICO GEORGE VON L. MEYER '^^^^'^ 

question — that I did not believe there was any army at the 
moment that could stand up against the Japanese army. Why? 
Because they have no fear of death, but court it. Every Chris- 
tian soldier, no matter how brave he may be in his heart, hopes, 
when the battle is over, to return to his home and family. The 
Japanese soldier's family glories in his death and considers it 
an honour. 

At the present moment the internal affairs of the country 
required his entire attention. While it was my belief (and I 
had so reported) that there would be no revolution, yet there 
were many reforms which would come about by evolution, and 
wliich, I had seen by the Ukases, His Majesty had promised. 
His Empire had unbounded resources, and possibly unlimited 
mineral wealth which remained undeveloped and would, if war 
continued, remain so. No one knew better than himself how 
timid capital was, and how all progress and enterprise would 
be thwarted under present conditions. Finally, I said Russia's 
credit has been maintained in an extraordinary manner, as 
shown by the quotations of Russian bonds, as compared to 
United States securities during our war, or to Italy's in her 
war with Austria. It was an open question if Russia's Consols 
would not be seriously affected, as the financiers of the world 
were adverse to further loans if war continued ; and finally, all 
Russia's friends honestly and seriously believed the war should 
end. What would have been the fate of the House of Savoy if, 
after the battle of Novara, when Carlo Alberto abdicated in 
favour of his son, Victor Emmanuel II, had not had the courage 
to make peace instead of endeavouring to continue the war? 
The King of Italy and the Emperor of Germany had both ex- 
pressed themselves to me in favour of peace. 

He said, " I know that. I have a letter on my table now 
from Emperor William, just received, in which he tells me he so 
expressed himself to you." At last His Majesty said, " If it 



1905] AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 161 

will be absolutely secret as to my decision, should Japan decline, 
or until she gives her consent, I will now consent to your Presi- 
dent's plan that we (Russia and Japan), have a meeting mith- 
out intermediaries, in order to see if we can make peace. Do you 
suppose," he added, " that President Roosevelt knows, or could 
find out in the meantime and let us know, what Japan's 
terms are? " 

I immediately replied that I had no means of knowing, 
nor did I think that the President would be willing to undertake 
to find them out, as that could be ascertained at the first meeting 
of the plenipotentiaries (without intermediaries !) of Russia and 
Japan. 

Having accepted, he said he wanted to be informed about 
Japan before the President gave out the public invitation, after 
having gained the assent of both countries. He then went on 
to say to me that " You have come at a psychological moment : 
as yet no foot has been placed on Russian soil; but I realize 
that at almost any moment they can make an attack on 
Sakhaline. Therefore it is important that the meeting should 
take place before that occurs." 

This gave me the opportunity to say to him that, as days, 
or even hours, might be an important factor, if he was willing 
to trust President Roosevelt, it would be better not to put any 
conditions as to your giving out the public invitation after you 
had secretly obtained the consent of the two nations. His 
Majesty agreed to this, laying stress on the importance of 
secrecy, and on the fact that the whole movement for peace was 
on your initiative; he was evidently anxious that the world 
should not in any way, even for a moment, think that the idea 
had emanated from Russia, 

His Majesty was also relieved and pleased that your prop- 
osition distinctly said that the Plenipotentiaries of both Russia 
and Japan should meet without intermediaries. 



162 GEORGE VON L. MEYER ^^^^^ 

My audience had already lasted an hour, and having 
gained his consent without any conditions other than those in 
your instructions, contrary to all customs I asked leave, before 
His Majesty made the move, to depart in order to cable at once 
to Washington, fearing that on further consideration the Tsar 
might make some changes in the plan. The Emperor then 
shook hands warmly and said with some feeling : " Say to your 
President I certainly hope that the old friendship which has 
previously existed and united the two nations for so long a 
period will be renewed. I realize that whatever difference has 
arisen is due to the press, and in no way to your Government." 
While the Emperor is not a man of force, I was impressed with 
his self-possession. 

Vours respectfully, 

' George v. L. Meyer. ' 

The press of the world was soon ringing with the 
accomplishment of the American plan to bring Russia 
and Japan to an understanding upon which peace 
might be restored. Wasliington, Tokyo, and St. 
Petersburg became the spots on the surface of the 
globe on which the eyes of mankind were most 
solicitously fixed — St. Petersburg, perhaps, first of 
all, for the reason that Russia, virtually defeated, was 
under the rule of a weak, obstinate, and ill-advised 
autocrat who might at any moment frustrate the good 
work of others. There was no telling what a day 
might bring forth. In Meyer's diary and letters the 
progress of events was completely recorded by one in 
a position of rare advantage to observe them. As a 
contribution to the annals of a critical epoch in inter- 
national affairs these records for about three months 



1905} AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 163 

after the interview with the Tsar which has just been 
described may be presented in some fulness. 

'' June 8. — Considerable interest and excitement 
over my visit to Tsarskoe Selo to see the Emperor, as 
it is known that President Roosevelt has taken the 
initiative in order to bring about peace if possible. 

" Called on the German Ambassador and told him 
that I was not at liberty to repeat the conversation 
which I had had with the Emperor (Nicholas II), yet 
he might wire Emperor William and say that he would 
receive word from Washington and that I was very 
! hopeful. 

" I refused to-day to see any members of the press, 
saying that matters were in too delicate a state to say 
anything. 

" Played polo this afternoon and enjoyed getting 
some out-door exercise and air. 

" June, 9. — Received two cables from the State 
Department — one stated that Japan had consented 
to pourparlers with Russia without intermediaries, 
and that I was to notify the Foreign Office to that 
eifect at once and cable as soon as I had done so, in 
order that the President may be in the position now to 
make pubhc invitation to both Russia and Japan. This 
was attended to at 11 a.m. The other cable was to 
thank the Tsar for his expression of good will and 
wishes that the old friendship between the United 
States and Russia should be restored, etc. Lamsdorff 
suggested that I write an autograph letter to the Tsar, 
conveying the expressions of the President, which he 
would hand to H.M. at 4 p.m. It was so arranged, 



164 GEORGE voi^ L. MEYER f^^^^ 

as Lamsdorff said it would only excite surprise and 
envy of the other members of the Diplomatic Corps. 

'' June 10. — It was announced in the press to- 
day that the President had publicly invited repre- 
sentatives of Russia and Japan to meet, in order to 
see if they could agree on peace. This was done in this 
way according to agreement, although Russia and 
Japan had already both agreed privately that they 
would do so. This is a great victory for the Presi- 
dent, who has brought this about by his own initiative. 
The press and the diplomats had been veiy skeptical 
about it all. It now rests with Japan and Russia if 
they can come to an agreement, as they are to meet 
without intermediaries. 

"'June 11. — Received cable this morning from 
Department in Washington, saying Cassini had asked 
to see my dispatch, as he thought I had misinterpreted 
the Tsar! The State Department refused to let him 
see it, on the ground that it was the office of his Gov- 
ernment to inform him or not as they saw fit. This 
was jealousy on his part because he had not been used 
to transmit the knowledge and information. They 
notified [me] merely because he might try to embarrass 
situation. German Emperor sent me a message 
through his Ambassador that he was very pleased with 
what had been accomplished by me and that he was 
hopeful of the outcome. Alvensleben also said that 
Lamsdorff had [said] that the meeting of Russia and 
Japan was assured. Cabled this to my Government, 
and also that there was no sign of any hitch in nego- 
tiations. 



19051 AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 165 

'^ June 12. — Assoeicated Press and Renter's Agency 
started a story to-day that, while Japan had agreed to 
meet and name plenipotentiaries, Russia would only 
name representatives who would not have full powers 
but merely to hear what Japan had to say. They also 
imphed that Russia was holding back, and that there 
were likely to be obstacles as to a meeting. While 
this was going on, received the formal acceptance from 
the Foreign Office, in which they agreed with Japan 
to name plenipotentiaries. That naturally killed the 
rumours. 

" The British Ambassador and Lady Hardinge 
dined with us — also Eddy, Foster, Csekonics, and 
Franckenstein.^ 

" Cabled the Government the text of Russian 
answer. 

" Hardinge told me of a secret dossier he had seen 
(dated the same day that the Japs attacked Port 
Arthur), which showed that the Russian fleet was to 
attack if they, the Japs, crossed the 38th degree. 

" Jtme 13. — The German Ambassador, von Al- 
vensleben, called on me this morning, to know if it 
was true that the Russians were unwiUing to name 
or call their delegates plenipotentiaries. Assured him 
there was no truth in it, that I had the Russian answer 
and they had agreed to name plenipotentiaries. Asked 
him to notify the Emperor of this confidentially. 

" The French Ambassador called after lunch ; said 
it was his first call since his return from Paris, and 
that he came to get posted and to say his Govern- 

1 Attache of the Austrian Embassy. 



166 GEORGE VON L. MEYER f^'^^^ 

merit was in accord and ready to assist towards peace 
in any way that they could. 

" June 16. — Received cable this a.m. from State 
Department, instructing me to see Lamsdorff and 
notify him that cable was received too late about The 
Hague/ as Washington had been agreed upon, Cas- 
sini having stated that it was agreeable to his govern- 
ment; Japan also having assented, it had been pub- 
licly announced that Washington was chosen; that the 
President could not now reverse his decision, as Japan 
would probably not consent, Lamsdorff said that he 
much preferred The Hague to Washington for many 
reasons — too far, too hot, and they were changing 
Ambassadors. I claimed their action extraordinary in 
trying to make the President reverse his decision after 
their representative had consented to it; also danger- 
ous. Lamsdorff to consult the Tsar and cable Cassini. 

"^ June 17. — Received a cable signed by the Presi- 
dent instructing me to see Minister of Foreign Af- 
fairs and explain that Washington had been decided 
upon with consent of the Russian and Japanese repre- 
sentatives in Washington, and that the President had 
announced it to the public. As far as he was con- 
cerned, the incident was closed and he could not re- 
verse his action. If the Foreign Office did not 
acquiesce, I was to take the matter before the Em- 
peror himself. I had quite a heated argument with 
Lamsdorff, and made him acknowledge that Cassini 
had been instructed, with the consent of the Tsar, to 

1 The Russian Government had tried to transfer the Peace Conference 
finally held at Portsmouth, N. H., to The Hague, from Washington, which 
had first been agreed upon. 



1905} AMBASSADOK TO RUSSIA 167 

accept Washington. Now he, Lamsdorff, wanted to 
reconsider. I told him it was too late. If he was 
unwilling to stand by Cassini's instructions, I should 
have to take it before the Tsar. This did not please 
him; however, he agreed to send my memo of instruc- 
tions to the Emperor that afternoon and let me know 
his decision. 

''June 18. — At 12.30 a.m. sent a cable to the 
President, having received a note from Lamsdorff 
saying that the Emperor made no objection to Wash- 
ington as the place of meeting of the plenipotentiaries 
of Russia and Japan. The note read as follows: 
* Monsieur I'Ambassadeur, Je m'empresse d'informer 
Votre Excellence que Sa Majeste I'Empereur ne voit 
aucune obstacle au choix de Washington pour la re- 
union et les pourparlers des Plenipotentiares Russes 
et Japonais. Je viens de telegraphier dans ce sens au 
Count Cassini. — Mille hommages tres sinceres. — 
(Signed) Lamsdorff.' 

" Why could he not say simply he agrees to Wash- 
ington? The Foreign Office cannot write a straight- 
forward direct letter — it is contrary to the habit of 
the Bureaucracy." 

To President Roosevelt 

^ St. Petersburg, Sunday, June 18, 1905. 
My dear Mr. President, — 

At midnight last night I received a letter from Count 

I Lamsdorff informing me of the Emperor's decision. I ordered 

out my automobile, going to the cable office myself and getting 

off the dispatch at 12.30 a.m., repeating in French the con- 



168 GEORGE VON L'. MEYER ^^^(^^ 

tents of the note. LamsdorfF also added: "I have just tele- 
graplicd in the same sense to Count Cassini." 

In wording a note LamsdorfF is never able to be emphatic 
and straightforward. The statement that he gave out for the 
press in answer to your invitation, and which was printed in 
the Official Messenger, caused some criticism, the diplomats not 
knowing that the Tsar had previously assured me at Tsarskoe 
Selo that Russia would accept, and [that] if Japan accepted 
also, 3^ou were to go through the form of a public invitation, 
and in the event of their refusal, everything that transpired 
was to be kept secret. The attitude of the Foreign Office in 
its communication is absolutely different from the tone of the 
Tsar, and is undoubtedly for effect on the public and a foolish 
endeavour to save their face. 

Yesterday and the day before I had two heated discus- 
sions with the INIinister of Foreign Affairs. However, as we 
carry them on in French, it makes them seem always more 
polite. The fact that you cabled me the LamsdorfF instruc- 
tions to Cassini was a great assistance, because I could not get 
it out of him the day before, when he implied that Cassini had 
made a mistake and gone beyond his instructions. I said it 
was time that he recalled Cassini at once, if the President could 
not rely on what he said. I could not make LamsdorfF realize 
that, after Washington had been decided upon, it was out- 
rageous of him endeavouring to force you to reverse your action, 
your decision having been made on the instructions to Cassini 
and which I compelled him to acknowledge had been approved 
by the Tsar. Even then he said : " Why should we not recon- 
sider, as The Hague is better for many reasons ? " As it made 
no impression on him that Japan had refused and you had an- 
nounced it to the world, I was obliged to tell him that in 
America when we gave our word we abided by it, and that if 
he did not decide to abide by Washington, I should be compelled 



1905} AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 169 

to carry it personally before the Emperor. This did not meet 
with his view at all, and he answered that it was not customary 
for the Emperor to give audiences weekly to an Ambassador. 

I have discovered that the bureaucracy was not at all 
pleased that I was able to carry through so quickly with the 
Emperor the question of accepting your invitation; and as I 
have been up against them the last two days, I realize now how y/ 
the Emperor is hampered and how much is kept from him. 

While Lamsdorff practically intimated that he would not 
ask for an audience until he had a reply from Cassini in answer 
to his cable, he realized that unless, in the end, he gave a de- 
cision in favour of Washington, I should demand the privilege 
in your name of taking the matter before the Tsar. So it 
finally was agreed that he would send a copy of my instructions 
to the Emperor that same day, and he would immediately write 
me the Emperor's decision, although the formal reply would be 
forwarded by Cassini. 

We parted finally on excellent terms, he adding: " I am not 
accustomed to be hustled so, and cannot see the need of such 
terrible haste ! " 

The English Ambassador told me confidentially last night 
that, in his talk that afternoon at the Foreign Office, Lams- 
dorff" had said to him that, if he only knew whom Japan was 
going to appoint as plenipotentiary, it would be of great assist- 
ance to him in deciding whom to name as plenipotentiaries to 
represent Russia. For instance, if Ito is to be sent by Japan, 
he would appoint as Russia's first representative Witte. This 
would be an excellent appointment, as it would strengthen the 
commission before the world. The Minister of Foreign Affairs 
also stated that his idea was to have a bouquet of three, as he 
called it : Witte, Nelidow as a diplomat, and a general to repre- 
sent the army, who would be broad-minded and fair in his ideas. 

Nelidow was a colleague of mine at Rome. I hope he wil! 



170 GEORGE von L*. MEYER l^^os 

not be appointed, as he is too old and nervous, and is the 
present Ambassador at Paris. He made a mess in Rome of the 
Tsar's failure to return the visit of the King and handled it 
in such a way that it gave umbrage to the King and the Italian 
people, and he and Ouroussow exchanged their posts only be- 
cause the King of Italy sent vord that Nelidow was no longer 
persona grata. 

Rosen would really be a much better man, as I understand 
Japan thinks well of him and he has a great respect for them; 
but LamsdorfF does not want to name him if he can help it, the 
Foreign Office feeling a little sore with him as he is in a position 
to say : " I told you so ! " 

' June 20. 

Yesterday the Emperor gave an audience to a deputation 
of fourteen earnest representative men from all parts of the 
country. I think it was very advantageous both to the Tsar 
and to the deputation, as they were much impressed by his 
reply. I cabled details to the Department to-day. 

This afternoon at three o'clock Lamsdorff telephoned for 
me to come and see him surely before five. I got to the Foreign 
Office at four o'clock. The result of my interview and his sug- 
gestions and requests I cabled at once in full to the Department. 
It was evident from his whole tone that the Emperor had taken 
the matter finally in charge himself, and that he was acting 
under direct instructions. I am thankful that they have waked 
up to the necessity of prompt action. I only trust that they 
have not delayed too long. 

Believe me. 

Respectfully yours, 

' George v. L. Meyer. 

For the remainder of June the diary was filled with 
entries about the choice of Russian plenipotentiaries 




Mils. GEOKGE VOX I,EXGEIIKK MEYEK 



1905} AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 171 

and the many cables that passed between Meyer and 
the State Department on this and related subjects. 
On the 25th he wrote, more personally, " The 20th 
anniversary of my wedding day — a happy day for 
me — I have had more than my share of blessings, a 
good wife, and a charming family." On the 26th 
appears one of several items of the same kind : " Played 
polo in the afternoon — could not live here if I did not 
get this exercise." The grave state of Russia, clearly 
foreshadowing its disasters under the strain of a gen- 
eral war, is constantly observed. 

'"^ June 29. — Mutiny in Odessa. The crew takes 
possession of a man-of-war, kills several of the officers 
and imprisons the rest. The harbour of Odessa is prac- 
tically destroyed by fire. This is very serious, as it 
may spread to the rest of the fleet which has been 
ordered from Sebastopol. The men-of-war in the 
harbour of Odessa threaten to fire on the town if they 
are attacked. It is difficult to get authentic news, as 
there is a strict censorship. 

" Go out to call after dinner on the Swedish 
Consul, who has a charming place opposite to 
Belosselsky's. 

" June 30. — The Marines in Libau revolted, burnt 
their barracks, — six companies in all, — and then went 
to a wood outside of the town, where they have been sur- 
rounded by troops. Their complaint was bad food — 
same as on the man-of-war. It looks as though there 
was concerted action between the men of the Black 
Sea and those of the Baltic. 

" Get a communication from Lamsdorff saying that 



172 GEORGE von L. MEYER f^^^^ 

the Tsar had appointed Mouravieff, former Minister 
of Justice and now Ambassador at Rome, in place of 
Nelidow, as First Plenipotentiary, Rosen as Second 
Plenipotentiary, and that they reserved the right to 
appoint delegates who might talk on special Eastern 
subjects as experts. 

" At midnight received a second communication 
saying that now that the time and place of meeting 
had been decided upon, also the Plenipotentiaries, he 
begged me to communicate with the President, follow- 
ing out his ideas, and ascertain if the Japanese did not 
consider that there were grounds for an armistice, and 
that the matter might be arranged directly between the 
Commanders-in-Chief of the two armies. 

" The sailors that mutinied on the Knyaz-Potemkin 
have complete possession of the battleship. They com- 
pelled a vessel loaded with coal to give up half her 
cargo. They pointed the guns on the town, and then 
went ashore and buried the sailor that the officer shot 
— carrying the motto on a red flag, ' All for one and 
one for all ' ; then they returned to the vessel and are 
awaiting the arrival of the fleet from Sebastopol. It 
is feared that the mutiny may spread to the other ves- 
sels, as this has been organized by the Socialists. 

" July 1. — Received the sudden and sad news of 
Mr. Hay's death. He had lately returned from Mann- 
heim, and it was supposed the cure had reestabhshed 
his health. I received a letter from him in Paris, 
dated June 1, in which he seemed in excellent spirits. 
He took up the Department's work at Washington, 
June 20, for a week, and then went to his place in 



1905] AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 173 

New Hampshire, where he died. The President, the 
nation, and the world lose an able statesman and an 
upright man who believed in speaking the truth in 
diplomacy. 

" Alice and the family left at 6 o'clock for Paris. 
I shall miss them fearfully, but it is a relief to have 
them out of the country, as affairs begin to look very 
bad again. The German Ambassador, Swiss Minister, 
and several diplomats come down to see them off." 

To President Roosevelt 

St. Petersburg, 18/1 July, 1905. 
My dear Mr. President, — 

The troubles at Lodz, Odessa, and Libau look very serious, 
especially in the last two places. I am unable to get detailed 
information as yet, on account of the strict censorship, but 
the fact that the sailors on board the Knyaz-Potemkin mutinied, 
killed several of the officers, and took possession of the ship, 
and about the same time the marines in Libau rebelled and 
destroyed their barracks, gives the appearance of concerted 
action between the men of the Black Sea fleet and those of the 
Baltic. 

The danger is that these actions and doings may prove 
an example and suggest possibilities to the soldiers. As yet I 
have heard of no disloyalty among the troops. 

The prevarications, misrepresentations, and procrastina- 
tions that go on in the Foreign Office would have seriously tried 
the patience of Job. The Emperor no sooner makes an advance 
or a step in the right direction than immediately its force is 
weakened by a communication to the press from the Foreign 
Office, or obstacles are put up by the bureaucracy in the way 
of dilatory tactics. For example, nothing was plainer and 



174 GEORGE von L. MEYER t^^^^ 

.clearer than the Emperor's acceptance of your invitation, there 
being no condition other than secrecy If Japan declined; yet 
the note from Lamsdorff, with a tone of superior Indifference, 
was foreign to the Emperor's acceptance. As another Instance 
of bureaucratic ways, when the Emperor, on the 19th of June, 
received the committee of fourteen, representatives of different 
parts of Russia, the Tsar declared his firm Intention to summon 
a national representative assembly. He also said : " I hope 
from this day forward that the relations between me and my 
people will enter upon a new phase." All this was modified in 
St. Petersburg when printed, and the text of the speeches 
altered so as to conform with less advanced ideas, the 
bureaucracy not relishing the tenor of the Peterhof speeches. 
The Russ, a St. Petersburg journal, was suppressed for a 
month, the offense consisting in publishing the text of the 
Zemstvo address, which, although it was received by the Em- 
peror, is considered by the bureaucracy an Illegal document, 
because it was passed and adopted by an unauthorized gath- 
ering. 

The Emperor is somewhat In the position that a weak, 
but honest mayor might be in in New York, with Tammany in 
J absolute control, the difference being that the Emperor can 
remove any one Instantly without any reasons or excuses, but 
unfortunately he lacks the force; yet I believe his intentions 
are honest and well-meant, but he is surrounded by men who are 
not in sympathy with needed reform, nor are they to be relied 
upon. 

On account of the Illiteracy In Russia, It will take a gen- 
eration to raise the standard of citizenship. What is needed Is 
primary schools in the country and town districts, trial by jury, 
freedom of the press, and a national representative assembly. 

From the cables that I sent off to the Department early 
this morning, it will be seen that the Foreign Office has finally 



1905} AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 175 

waked up to the necessity of action and the great desirability of 
an armistice. The Tsar recognized it the day he accepted your 
invitation, when I was at Tsarskoe Selo ; yet two weeks ago I 
urged upon Lamsdorff the necessity of appointing plenipo- 
tentiaries promptly and arranging with as little delay as pos- 
sible all preliminaries. 

The appointment of Mouravieff I hope will turn out to be 
a good one. The German Ambassador told me before it was 
decided that he considered him to be the best man that they had 
in the diplomatic service. He is also spoken of as the future 
Minister of Foreign Affairs, to succeed Lamsdorif. 

Believe me, 

Yours respectfully, 

"' George v. L. Meyer. 



'' Jul?/ 2. — Received a cable from the President at 
8.30 A.M., in which he announces both countries having 
agreed to the plenipotentiaries. He will announce that 
they have been appointed as with full powers to make a 
treaty of peace, the same to be ratified by the home 
governments. 

" As to an armistice, which Lamsdorff asked the 
President to take up, they object to the idea that they 
are asking this of Japan, but only personally of the 
President, for his advice and action if possible. I 
cabled this to the President and asked him to keep 
secret whatever they do. It is a small point and the 
distinction typically Russian, always trying to save 
jtheir face. 

" July 3. — Cabled early this morning the names 



176 GEORGE von L. MEYER I^^^^ 

of the five special delegates whom the Tsar has ap- 
pointed, saying that he did this showing that he wanted 
to make a lasting agreement. They will accompany 
the First Plenipotentiary. 

" Cabled the President that heretofore I have 
thought Revolution improbable, but the events of the 
last week (the increasing strikes, the disturbances at 
Lodz, the Marines revolting at Libau, the successful 
mutiny at Odessa, which resulted in the officers being 
killed and the vessel, Potemkin, battleship, captured), 
have entirely changed the aspect of affairs. Should 
Japan refuse an armistice and inflict a defeat on the 
Russian army, impossible to foretell event, due to the 
public state of mind and the incompetency of the 
Government. 

" July 4. — Had no celebration to-day on account 
of Mr. Hay's death. Received a cable from the Presi- 
dent, saying that he had notified Japan that proposi- 
tion for an armistice came from him and not from 
Russia. He had also notified Japan of the five dele- 
gates named, giving the names. 

" The mutiny on board the Potemkin took place 
during the manoeuvre of the fleet, when the sailors 
complained of the soup and said that they could not 
eat it. The officers ordered those who could eat it to 
stand on one side. These outnumbered the complain- 
ants, but the latter ran for the guns. The officer 
ordered the men to shoot at the mutinous crew, and 
they refused. The officer then fired his pistol, and 
was killed by the crew. They also shot the Captain 
as he came out of his cabin, and hunted down the offi- 



1905] AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 177 

cers like rats, and even the men who refused to take 
part. 

'' July 5. — Mr. Hay buried to day. 

" The Potemkin put into the port of Roumania 
and demanded provisions and coal, which were not 
granted. They have given out (the crew) a proclama- 
tion that they are at war with Russia, that foreign 
vessels will not be touched or attacked. It seemed 
they notified the foreign vessels to move out of the har- 
bour of Odessa, where they are in danger of their 
storming and firing on the city. 

" July 7. — Battleship Potemkin still at large in 
the Black Sea. What an example to Russian Navy 
and Army ! 

" Busy all day writing dispatches for the pouch 
which leaves to-morrow via Berlin. 

"Receive an important letter from the President; 
very confidential, and shows conclusive reason why 
Russia for her own good should make peace. Shall 
endeavour to get this to the Emperor's attention, but 
will be difficult. 

'' July 8. — Yacht Greta arrives, with Mr. and 
Mrs. C. L. F. Robinson, Miss Robins, Stuyvy LeRoy, 
Frank Griswold. They have been at the Kiel Regatta. 
Robinson said that the Emperor sent his regards to 
me, and also the message that he was sorry that this 
summer he would not be at Bergen to entertain my wife 
and children. 

" Send a confidential letter dated to-day, on the 
situation here, to the President in the pouch by our 
special messenger via Berlin." 



178 GEORGE von L. MEYER t^^^^ 

To President Roosevelt 

^ St. Petersburg, July 8, 1905. 
My dear Mb. President, — 

In acknowledging your letter of the 19th of June, which 
came to hand last evening, I want at the same time to assure 
you how much I appreciate what you said. 

Now as to Russia and peace, I think the Emperor really 
desires it, but your arguments are so clear and conclusive, and 
you strike the nail so squarely on the head, that I desire to 
bring your letter to the Tsar's attention, if possible without 
Lamsdorff's assistance, as he is tricky and not absolutely 
reliable. It is about as difficult to see the Emperor as it is the 
Sultan. The Foreign Office and some of the members of the 
bureaucracy have not yet got over the fact that the Tsar 
accepted your invitation on the basis of your cablegram with- 
out referring the matter to them. 

I cabled you confidentially July 3 the state of internal 
affairs, as they were very serious. I find that some of the 
Russians that I know have returned from their country places, 
realizing that it is no longer safe for them, which shows that 
the peasants are being affected. The condition of the Black 
Sea fleet is lamentable and pitiable, and if mutiny once spreads 
to the army, the present dynasty is doomed. 

The Tsar promises reforms and the bureaucracy puts up 
hindrances and delays, and the worst of all is the prospect of 
further delay. However, since the marines rebelled at Libau, 
and the sailors of the Black Sea fleet mutinied at Odessa, it 
has finally dawned on almost all the officials (though they may 
not express it openly), that peace is a necessity, especially as 
the last mobilization of troops has proven so unpopular, that 
in St. Petersburg they have discontinued it and have sent many 
of the men back to their various occupations. 

What is needed most of all, as I said in my last dispatch 



1905] AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 179 

to the Department, is a regime of discussion, publicity, and 
action, in place of mystery, duplicity, and inaction. 

Ten days ago I dined with a certain Russian Prince who 
is an aide-de-camp of the Emperor and a great favourite. 
Thinking that it would get to the Emperor's ear, I took this 
opportunity to call the Prince's attention to the tone that the 
Foreign Office had assumed in their communications concerning 
the Peace Conference, and stated that Japan had made capital j 
with all the powers by her straightforward, frank, and manly 
responses. A few days later I noticed a marked change in 
Lamsdorff and a decided anxiety for an armistice; and then 
came the communication (July 3) from the Foreign Office, in 
which it said that: " The Emperor, as an evidence of his sincere 
desire to come to a lasting agreement between Russia and 
Japan, and in view of the importance of the negotiations to 
be opened at Washington, has named as special delegates, etc., 
etc.," which is the first flat-footed statement that I have received 
from the Foreign Office. 

Believe me, Mr. President, 

Respectfully yours, 

George v. L. Meyer. ^ 

\_Diary'\ 

" July 9. — The papers say that the Japanese are 
attacking Sakhaline. It would be unfortunate for , 
the Russians should they lose this island before the 
Plenipotentiaries meet. 

" Mouravieff, Ambassador to Rome, and now First 
Plenipotentiary for the Peace Conference, arrives in 
St. P. 

" It is reported that the PotemkM has surrendered 
in a Roumanian port, and the crew gone on shore. 



180 GEORGE von L. MEYER l^^os 

'^ July 11. — Receive cable from State Depart- 
ment, saying that the President sends me word that 
he does not beheve he will be able to arrange an 
armistice with Japan before the Plenipotentiaries meet 
(August 1), partly on account of the unfortunate 
reading of Lamsdorff's communique, given to press i 
about the Plenipotentiaries and the acceptance of the; 
invitation for them to meet. Called on Lamsdorff at: 
10 A.M. by appointment. He did not enjoy my re- 
ferring to his so-called unfortunate communique; saidl 
Japan was only using that as an excuse: she really 
wanted to go on improving her position until the lastt 
.moment. He again added that the wording he used 
in his communique should not have been misunder- 
stood, as he only used, ' if Japan desires it,* as Russiai 
did not know, officially, then, or was not supposed to, 
what Japan would say, and [it] could not be done 
without her consent. He promised to show a confi- 
dential letter I had received from the President to the 
Tsar. To my mind Lamsdorff expressed his com 
muMique to give a false impression to the public. 

"^ July 12. — De Witte has been appointed First 
Plenipotentiary in place of Mouravieff — an excellent 
move. I 

" July 13. — Cabled the State Department of the 
appointment of de Witte in place of Mouravieff, who 
is not in good health. Also sent a cable at noon quot^; 
ing the Edict of the Emperor in which he appoint? 
Admiral Birileff Secretary of the Marine; speaks oli 
the serious lack of discipline among the officers anc 
the grave events which have taken place in the Blacl 



1905] AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 181 

Sea fleet, and asks his assistance to bring the Navy 
up to a proper basis and stand. 

" July 14. — The Japanese are continuing the con- 
quest of Sakhahne by changing the names of the capes 
and towns. Evidently they want to make it an assured 
fact that it is Japanese territory before the meeting of 
the Conference at Washington. 

" Heretofore the Russians have prided themselves 
on the fact that the Japs had not put a foot on Russian 
soil. 

"^ July 16. — Witte called on me this afternoon at 
4 o'clock. He impressed me as a man of force and 
character. He spoke most frankly and directly, more 
so than any man that I have met in Russia. He said 
that he had been adverse to the war from the first and 
had been for peace. 

"July 17. — A beautiful summer's day, everything 
seemed so peaceful. One does not imagine that bombs 
are being made in almost any house, and that the coun- 
try is at war with Japan, and internal strife going on 
among the workmen, Jews, and reactionists." 

To President Roosevelt 

' St. PETERSBURG; July 18, 1905. 
My dear Mr. President, — 

A week ago to-day I sent for the same aide-de-camp that 
I have before spoken of, and who wa"^ staying with the Tsar, to 
come and see me, as I wanted him to know, in order that he 
might inform the Emperor, that I was giving your letter the 
next morning to LamsdorfF to carry to Peterhof. 

I had heard that Mouravieff 's health and indisposition might 



182 GEORGE von L. MEYER t^^^^ 

prevent his going to Washington. Therefore it was of the 
utmost importance that the Emperor should realize the neces- 
sity of appointing their best man in place of Mouravieff. I felt 
nothing would bring it so forcibly before him as your letter td 
me. It is only fair to Lamsdorff to say that he had wanted I 
Witte from the first. 

Two days later Witte was appointed, and I have a strong; 
feeling that your note was instrumental in assisting to bring; 
this about. The naming of Witte as First Plenipotentiary hasi 
had a marked effect in this country, and has given a feeling of 
* confidence as to the manner in which the pourparlers will be 
carried on with Japan. It is recognized as a decided move in 
favour of peace by the English and Continental press. 

Witte came and called on me yesterday afternoon, and I 
cabled to the Department my impressions. I also arranged an 
interview with him for the Associated Press representative, Mr. 
Thompson, which will be published this week. Witte did not 
hesitate to tell me that he had been opposed to the war from 
the first and had counselled making peace on two previous occa- 
sions. He said, however, it must be understood that he was 
going as the representative of the Tsar, and should work under 
his instructions to the best of his ability to bring about peace. 
Therefore everything depended upon whether the Japanese 
would offer such terms as could be accepted. He added that 
he did not understand why Japan was not willing to announce 
the basis on which peace should be considered before their meet- 
ing in Washington. He regretted extremely that Marquis Ito 
was not to be in America, as he had a great admiration and 
respect for him and feU that they could have come to some 
understanding within an >our. Whatever the result may be, 
he expressed great pleasure in having the opportunity to visit 
America. 

I am enclosing translation of an article from the Novoe 



1905} AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 183 

Vremya, which is always hostile to the Ujiited States, entitled: 
" The Secret Alliance between America and Japan." 

Poland continues in a state of unrest, and an increased 
number of bombs are constantly being found by the police in 
the various cities of Russia. 
Believe me, Mr, President, 

"Respectfully yours, 

' George v. L. Meyeb. 

July 19. 

P. S. Mouravieff's inability and unwillingness to serve, 
for various reasons, developed so rapidly that there was not 
sufficient time for me to arrange for a private audience with 
the Emperor. Therefore I gave your letter to the Minister of 
Foreign Affairs. It reached the desired destination and was 
returned next day with thanks by Count Lamsdorff. I called 
on Witte yesterday afternoon, in order to wish him success and 
hon voyage; he told me that the Emperor was writing a letter 
to you which he would be charged to carry. 

Personally I am much relieved that MouraviefF is not to 
serve. You may remember his address at The Hague, which 
gave great offense to the Japanese. 

The papers have just come to hand with your speech at 
Commencement (Cambridge). I was very glad you spoke as 
you did concerning the standard which the lawyer and business 
man should take. Since the disgraceful disclosure of the Equi- 
table, a campaign of education as to business morals and 
standards seems to be as necessary as was at one time the cam- 
paign of education for an honest dollar. What gain has the 
nation made if the standard of men holding positions of trust 
has been lowered and debased.? 

G. V. L. M. 



184 GEORGE von L. MEYER ^^^^5 

" July 21. — Received interesting letter from Pres- 
ident Roosevelt, in which, among other things, he told 
me that one of the last things John Hay told him was 
' that he was very glad that I had made such a success 
of my mission to St. Petersburg.' Wrote to the Presi- 
dent about Witte and the good impression which it had 
made everywhere (his appointment as First Plenipo- 
tentiary). The Russians are putting up a tremen- 
dous bluff about wanting the war to go on, but with 
the condition of internal affairs, there is but one thing 
for Russia to do, — make peace before it is too late. 
If they do not do so, I cannot foretell what the out- 
come will be. 

" July 22. — Reports have come through the for- 
eign papers of the condition of the Russian fleet as 
reported by Rodjestvensky and Nebogatoff. It is 
said that the armour plate was not of required thick- 
ness, many shells did not burst, and the crews on some 
of the vessels under Nebogotoff mutinied and refused 
to fight. He was obliged to train his guns on some 
(two) of the ships to make them fight. On these two 
vessels lots of ammunition was found. Rodjestvensky 
had hoped to slip through the straits in the fog, but 
it lifted two hours too soon. 

" July 23. — Passed the day with Csekonics at the 
Wishaw, very attractive place near Strelna. Rained 
so that we could not play tennis. 

" Went from there to Tsarskoe to dine with the 
d'Aehrenthals. He told me that the Tsar had gone over 



19051 AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 185 

on his yacht to the Swedish coast to have a conference 
with the German Emperor.^ The yacht left Peterhof 
at 10 A.M. He had with him Grand Duke Michel 
Alexander, the Minister of the Marine, Baron Fred- 
ericks, and German Naval Attache, Captain Hintze. 
Has created much interest. 

" The disturbances expected to-day did not take 
place, everything quiet. 

"^ July 24. — As to the conference between the two 
Emperors. It is thought by some it referred to in- 
ternal affairs, by others that Russia is not pleased with 
the French Alliance, since she [France] refused to 
continue to loan her money last winter, and also looks 
with doubt at the new alliance between France and 
England. Therefore, it may be on the cards for Ger- 
many and Russia to come to some agreement. 

" July 25. — The Tsar is returning to-day from 
his audience with the German Emperor. Alvensleben, 
the German Ambassador, called on me to-day to say 
that he knew nothing about it until last Saturday, the 
day before the Tsar started. It is cruel that they do 
not keep him posted, and very embarrassing, as it be- 
littles him among his colleagues. 

''July 26, — Receive word from the Minister of 
Foreign Affairs, Count Lamsdorff, that he will not be 
able to receive the Diplomatic Corps. I hear he has 

1 See American Historical Review, October, 1918, for article "Kaiser 
and Tsar, 1904-5," dealing with Tsar's conference at Bjorke, and the 
secret treaty between the two Emperors, aimed at solidifying Germany 
and Russia, at the instance of the Kaiser, against France and England — 
a treaty subsequently annulled by the Foreign Ministers of Prussia and 
Germany. See also "The Willy-Nicky Correspondence," by Herman 
Bernstein (1918). 



186 GEORGE VON L. MEYER i^^"^ 

had another of his fainting fits — I am afraid that 
some day they will carry him off. 

" The papers continue to guess what was the cause 
of the meeting between the Kaiser and the Emperor. 

" July 27. — The fog between Southampton and 
Cherbourg prevented the Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse 
from reaching Cherbourg yesterday. She, however, 
got to Cherbourg to-day and Witte sailed at 1.30. 
The Japanese plenipotentiaries are already in America, 
as usual, always ahead of the Russians. 

" July 30. — Lunch at the British Embassy at 1 
o'clock. Baring '^ and Lord Cranley ^ were there. We 
discussed the chances of peace. I think Sir Charles ^ 
believes it very doubtful. 

" I said, unless ' the gods have made them mad ' 
they will make peace for three reasons: 1st. The 
bankers will give them no more money if they con- 
tinue the war; 2nd. The internal disturbances require 
their attention — entire; 3rd. The Japanese have an 
army of two men for every Russian. 

"July 31. — The Russians, it seems, fear that 
eventually Norway, Sweden, and Denmark will make 
an alliance, so that Russia in the Baltic will be in the 
same position as they are in the Black Sea. Mean- 
time, however, it looks as though the union of Norway 
and Sweden would be dissolved without bloodshed, 
although Sweden feels it keenly. Some think that the 
Kaiser wanted to talk Norway over with the Tsar, on 

1 Hon. Maurice Baring of the British Embassy at Rome while Meyer 
was there. 

2 Third Secretary of the British Embassy. 

3 Sir Charles Hardiuge, British Ambassador, Viceroy of India, 1910-16. 



19051 AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 187 

the possibility of a Prince of Hohenzollern being put 
on the throne. 

'' August 1, — It appears that an important con- 
ference is going on at Peterhof, at which the Emperor 
is presiding. Grand Duke Vladimir, Michel, and all 
the important ministers are present. They have taken 
up the Bulygin report, and are considering the question 
of a national assembly and certain reforms. The Em- 
peror and Grand Dukes went on record as favouring 
reforms and a National Assembly. But Lamsdorff 
and certain ministers against. It is evident why they 
are against it, as they do not want to have interroga- 
tion as to their action and administration. 

" Receive letter from Groton School that ' Bey * 
must be reexamined in September in Algebra and 
English. Cable Alice to arrange for lessons at once." 

To President Roosevelt 

' St. Petersburg, August 1, 1905. 
My dear Mr. President, — 

I beg leave to acknowledge your kind letter of July 7, 
and to assure you how much I value the words said to you by 
the late John Hay. Both you and the country are fortunate to 
be able to command the services of such a man as Elihu Root. 

The Moscow Congress has attracted great interest and 
attention throughout the country, — even more than the war 
for the moment, — and it has already resulted in a tentative 
promise from the Tsar to give more land to the peasants, and 
the government scheme of a national assembly is being revised 
on a more liberal basis than Bulygin proposed. The longer 
the Tsar delays, the greater will be the reforms whicJa he will 
finally have to graht. 



i§g GEORGE VON L. MEYER ^^^^^ 

St. Pstersburg is practically a bureaucratic city, and it 
is the last place to realize the requirements of the country or 
the demands of the people. 

The sudden and unexpected meeting of the Emperors on 
July 24 threw the Continental press almost into hysterics. 
The English diplomats here were much aroused, being sus- 
picious of the Kaiser's motives, one going so far as to say it 
was another case of the Kriiger telegram. The French saw a 
second Morocco incident. The Austrians shook their heads, 
but thought the Kaiser desired to warn the Tsar against mak- 
ing too great concessions to the reformers or revolutionists. 
The French press, in some instances, feared it would result in 
lessening the chances of peace, as the Tsar would not be less 
willing to make concessions, having German support, while, on 
the other hand, some English correspondents pointed out that 
it was an attempt for a Russian-French-German alliance on 
Eastern affairs. And so it ran. But now the excitement has 
passed off and the nervousness has disappeared. The German 
Ambassador called on me and assured me that the meeting had 
been arranged by the Emperors themselves; that twenty-four 
hours before the Tsar left, he knew nothing about it. His 
naval attache had reported that the conference had been satis- 
factory and agreeable. He did not consider that it meant any 
change of policy, or that it was of any great importance, other 
than that he knew that his Emperor was very much in favour 
of peace and therefore he believed it could not but be beneficial 
in that respect. 

Lately, in Paris, a part of the press and some of the poli- 
ticians not members of the government, have intimated that 
the Franco-Russian alliance had been very expensive to France 
and was losing its usefulness ; but as soon as the Emperors met 
and they imagined Germany was trying for an alliance with 
Russia, the tone instantly changed and statements were made 



1905} AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 189 

everywhere in France that the alliance between Russia and 
France was as strong as ever. 

General Barry ^ has written me from Manchuria of the 
necessity of a military attache in St, Petersburg at the present 
time, for the reason that a great deal of the information re- 
quired can be obtained much more easily and better at the War 
Office in St. Petersburg, where the reports are now being 
received and filed, than in the field. He has sent a long list of 
items required for information from the War Office. Now 
Captain Mott supplements this with an additional list from 
Paris. I have written to the State Department endorsing Gen- 
eral Barry's recommendation and urging the assignment of a 
military attache here. It is of great importance that he should 
speak French. 

When this reaches you, the world will probably know defi- 
nitely whether Russia and Japan are to come to terms. I sin- 
cerely hope that this may be brought about, for the reason that, 
if war continues, I have grave doubts as to the future outcome 
of events in this country. 

Believe me, ' Respectfully yours, 

' Geoege v. L. Meyer. 

P.S. While there is undoubtedly a great deal of bluff going 
on, in order if possible to affect Japan, there is still, incom- 
prehensible as it may appear to you, quite a war party. Prince 
Hohenlohe, the Austrian military attache, tells me he has talked 
with several of the old generals, who labour under the delusion 
that their army has a chance of victory under Linevich. Only 
yesterday a petition was received by the Emperor from the 
clergy and people of five districts of the Orenburg Government 
(representing 38,000 people), asking him not to sign a dis- 

iMaj.-Gen. T. H. Barry, U. S. A., and other American army officers, 
had recently passed through St. Pptersburg, where the Tsar had received 
(them, on their way to the front as observers. 



190 GEORGE von L. MEYER ^^^(^^ 

graceful peace. I fear that all this may have quite an effect 
on the Emperor and very little on the Japanese. 

G. V. L. M. 

\_Diary^ 

" August 3. — Send cable to Washington on the 
present conditions and state of affairs. The war 
party have been doing a good deal in order to in- 
fluence the Emperor to continue the war, petitions 
coming from the officers of the army, from different 
towns, and from even the clergy in some instances! 
Also the reformers and so-called revolutionists would 
prefer to see peace postponed for a while, because they 
think that in the present condition of affairs they can 
force the caUing of a national assembly, and at a very 
early date. On the other hand, if peace was declared, 
it would postpone the assembly and the needed reform. 
It is not that they are against peace, but want reforms 
more. 

" August 5. — Call at the Ministry of Finance. 
Timiriaseff informed me that Russia was favourably 
disposed to accept the proposition of the United States 
to make a commercial agreement under Section 3 of 
the Act of 1897; this to be used as a bridge to cross, 
and that in anticipation of this agreement he favoured 
the abolition of the discriminating duties against the 
United States, not in the next few days, but very soon, 
as they did not wish to appear to be influencing Ameri- 
can opinion during the pourparlers for peace. 

" The Plenipotentiaries are to be received by the 
President to-day on the government yacht Mayflower, 



1905} AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 191 

and presented to each other. Cabled the President that 
I had received the information that the Tsar had signed 
a constitution. 

"August 6. — Met the British Ambassador, Sir 
Charles Hardinge, coming from church as I was going 
to the Chancery. He returned with me and we com- 
pared notes as to the situation and the chances of 
peace. I claimed that if, as the French papers were 
saying, it dated from the time that the German Em- 
peror and Tsar met, and it was based on the Emperor 
William having advised the Tsar not to make peace, 
then it was nonsense and the movement against peace 
was bluff on the part of the Russians; but, unfortu- 
nately, it would not affect the Japanese, and might 
unfortunately affect the Tsar against peace. We both 
agreed that the outlook for peace was a little better. 

" August 7. — Courier arrives from Berlin with 
pouch and letters from President Roosevelt dated July 
18. Cable Washington that the reformists were so 
confident of getting a national assembly that they now 
no longer were opposed to peace, and had even urged 
the Tsar to make peace. 

" The President is receiving praise from all sources 
on the manner in which he received the plenipoten- 
tiaries on board the yacht Mayflower at Oyster Bay on 
Saturday, August 5. He gave the following toast 
which he said was not to be answered : * Gentlemen, I 
propose a toast to which there will be no answer, and 
which I ask you to honour in silence and standing. I 
drink to the welfare and prosperity of the sovereigns 
and peoples of the two great nations whose representa- 



192 GEORGE von L. MEYER f^^^^ 

tives have met one another on this ship. It is my most 
earnest wish and prayer, in the interest of not only 
these two great Powers, but of all mankind, that a just 
and lasting peace may speedily be concluded between 
them.' 

'' August 8. — Witte continues to be received with 
enthusiasm in America. He has made an excellent im- 
pression, being tall, blunt, and straightforward. He 
got off the boat at Newport and went to Boston by 
train,^ and later to Magnolia, and then on to Ports- 
mouth." 

To President Roosevelt 

St. Petersburg, August 9, 1905. 
My dear Me. President, — 

I beg leave to acknowledge your letter of the 18th of July. 

Since my last, of the 1st inst., the conference presided 
over by the Tsar at Peterhof has actually accomplished some- 
thing, spurred on, and even alarmed, by the effect that has been 
produced throughout the country by the discussions of the 
Moscow conference. 

The final vote which decided the Emperor to grant a na- 
tional assembly, which It is believed will be announced August 
13, is interesting to analyse. The Minister of Foreign 
Affairs, the Minister of Justice, the Minister of the Court, 
and the Minister of Agriculture all voted against. They 
naturally dread the power of interrogation which will be given 
to the assembly, and the consequent publicity of their acts. 
Kokovtzoff, Minister of Finance, and Glasoff, Minister of Pub- 
lic Instruction, refrained from voting. General Trepoff, to 

1 It was at the end of this journey, according to American newspaper 
reports, that Witte, after shaking hands with the engineer and fireman 
of the train, outdid the practice of President Eooseve t by kissing the 
conductor. ' 



1905} AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 193 

the surprise of every one, voted for reform and a national as- 
sembly. This is the first time in his life that he has appeared 
in the role of a liberal or reformer. He is probably the best- 
informed man in Russia as to internal conditions and the dis- 
turbances throughout the country, and therefore realizes the 
necessity of the Tsar granting reforms promptly. 

Ignatieff, who had been down to Odessa, delivered a speech 
warning the Tsar that, unless reforms and a national assembly 
were granted, he considered the Romanoff dynasty in actual 
danger of being overthrown by a revolution which would spread 
throughout the land. This speech, it is said, made a great 
impression, as Ignatieff has until lately been a reactionist. 

The Moscow reformers, while in principle they were not 
averse to peace, dreaded it as an occasion for the autocracy 
to delay reforms. Within three days they have come out 
strongly for peace, feeling sure now of a national assembly. 

The revolutionists have been working on the peasants in 
various parts of the country, and have even made arrange- 
ments to distribute literature among the soldiers in the army 
at the front, urging them to lay down their arms in case peace 
is not made. 

I have just come from the Foreign Office, where Lamsdorff 
told me that the Emperor was exceedingly pleased by the recep- 
tion accorded in America to Witte. He added that you had 
made a tremendous impression on Witte, and that he had 
cabled the Emperor to that effect. 

Lamsdorff spoke of the probabilities of getting the dis- 
criminating duties removed, which coincides with what the 
Minister of Finance had already intimated to me, details of 
which I communicated to the Department. 

Believe me, my dear Mr, President, 

''Respectfully yours, 

' Geobge v. L. Meyee. ' 



lU GEORGE VON L. MEYER t^^os 

'^ August 10, — Nice long letters from the family 
in Hamilton. They are delighted with the house and 
the changes on the place, which delights me also. 

" The feeling that peace will not result from the 
meeting of the Plenipotentiaries at Portsmouth con- 
tinues. Russia, it is thought, will not pay an indemnity 
nor yield Russian territory to Japan. Japan, it is 
thought, will demand not only territory but indemnity. 

" Received word this evening that the terms have 
been cabled to Russia by Witte. 

'' August 16. — The pourparlers at Portsmouth 
are progressing with more promise of success. They 
have so far agreed upon four articles: exclusive in- 
fluence of Japan in Corea, recognizing the sovereignty 
of the ruling House; the Russians and Japanese agree 
to evacuate Manchuria and to renounce all privileges 
and to recognize it as Chinese territory, with the open 
door; Russia cedes to China the railroad from Harbin 
south ; Port Arthur and Dalny with privileges ceded to 
Japan. 

" Call on Count Cassini, find him at home. Assures 
me that he did not leave Washington without regret. 
Spoke very nicely about Mr. Hay, and told how he had 
received from him two books as a memento. 

"August 17. — Associated Press cables that dis- 
criminating duties are to be removed as the result of 
my conference with the Foreign Office and Department 
of Finance, but will be announced by Witte or Rosen 
in America. These discriminating duties have been in 



1905} AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 195 

force since the beginning of 1901, and have been very 
detrimental to commerce between Russia and America. 
The bridge used to come together on this subject is 
Article 3 of Dingley Tariff. Does not benefit Russia 
much, but serves her as an excuse. The plenipoten- 
tiaries are coming down to the hard nuts to crack, and 
unless Japan gives way now in certain matters peace 
will not come about. Each appears to be firm and 
unyielding. 

''August i^. — Norway votes 368,200 to 184 in 
favour of secession. 

" German Ambassador calls to learn how peace is 
progressing. 

" To-day the Austrian Ambassador lunched with 
the Emperor and Empress at Peterhof. In conversa- 
tion with Hohenlohe, their military attache, the Tsar 
said that the Japanese were evidently trying to humil- 
iate Russia in endeavouring to limit his naval strength 
in the East and asking for the interned vessels in neu- 
tral ports. He added that he would never make a 
peace that would require an indemnity to be paid or 
the giving up of Russian territory. Cabled this to the 
President. Called on Minister of Finance to corrob- 
orate the fact that discriminating duties will be 
removed. 

"August 19. — To-day the Tsar announced the 
plan for a national assembly with full particulars, — 
this should prove a great event in Russia's history and 
is a tremendous step forward, besides being a decided 
victory for the reformists throughout Russia. Call on 
Lamsdorff. He seemed quite pleased with the fish 



196 GEORGE von L. MEYER f^^^'^ 

that I had sent hun and which I got at Imatra/ Was 
much delighted with the impression and success that 
Witte had made in America. 

" The Russian plenipotentiaries arriving with full 
powers and the Japanese with limited powers was a 
great surprise and made a good impression. Cabled 
the Department that Witte had been authorized by the 
Tsar to announce to the President the removal of the 
discriminating duties. Will probably wait until he can 
announce it personally to the President. 

^^ August 21. — The project of the national as- 
sembly which is now assured has not aroused any en- 
thusiasm in St. Petersburg. In some of the foreign 
papers there is criticism of the limited scope of the 
parliament, but it should be remembered that there 
are 99,000,000 of illiterates in Russia. They must first 
show their ability to legislate before their powers are 
too large. As the Emperor said, * Experience will 
show what is required.' Play tennis at Krestovsky 
with Grand Duke Boris, Fiirstenberg, and Hohenlohe. 
Lady Hardinge goes back to St. P. with me in my 
auto, and we arrange to go to the review next morn- 
ing. Dine at the Spanish Embassy with Duke and 
Duchess de Arcos; she was bom Laurie. Dinner was 
given for Count Cassini." 

The diary of August 22 and 23 is fiUed with the 
record of Meyer's face-to-face dealings with the Tsar, 
under cabled instructions from President Roosevelt, 

1 A few days of salmon-fiBhing were described in the diary, in passages 
pmitted here. 



1905] AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 197 

on the conclusion of peace by the Portsmouth Confer- 
ence. Meyer's part in all this enterprise was an indis- 
pensable element in its success. It is only fair to say 
that without his admirable conduct of the negotiations 
in St. Petersburg the work for which President Roose- 
velt so justly received the plaudits of the world could 
hardly have been accomplished. This was indeed the 
opinion, and the testimony, of the best-informed in 
Russia at the time. Again a letter to the President 
affords the more finished record of these momentous 
days. 

To President Roosevelt 

St. Pktersburg, August 25, 1905. 

My dear Mr. President, — 

I cabled at midnight on the 23rd the outcome of my 
audience with the Tsar. Your cabled instructions reached me 
at eight o'clock in the morning (Tuesday) the 22nd, but only 
one-sixth of the message. The rest was held up for nearly two 
hours. Of course I am ignorant whether it was sent piece- 
meal or all at once from Oyster Bay. I have strong suspicions 
that this was done here designedly. It was known that I was 
going early Tuesday morning to the manoeuvres with the Belos- 
selskys, at a place between Peterhof and Tsarskoe Selo, to 
which none of the military attaches had been invited this year. 
The Emperor was to be present, and we were to lunch with the 
Grand Duke Vladimir. Just enough of the message was 
brought to me from the cable office to show me, after translat- 
ing it, that it was of great importance and impossible for me 
to leave before the receipt of the balance of the cable. I 
therefore wrote a note explaining why I could not get away, 
and that I was asking, through LamsdorfF, for an audience at 



198 GEORGE von L. MEYER ^^^os 

once. I begged the Grand Duke Vladimir to use his judgment 
in showing this to the Emperor, which I learned afterwards 
he did. 

It was unfortunate that the entire cable was not given 
to me at eight o'clock, as I then should have had time to 
translate it and leave for the manoeuvres, where I should have 
seen the Emperor immediately after my arrival, without any 
formal appointment and before any of the war party or any 
of the bureaucracy had had time to know the contents of your 
dispatch, or to have warned the Emperor thereof, because, you 
know, they have our code. You may think me over-suspicious 
of the bureaucracy's methods, but I think when we next meet 
I can satisfy you that I have good reasons. As it was, they 
had a conference at Peterhof that night, Tuesday, over your 
cable, Lamsdorff never getting back to St. Petersburg until 
eleven p.m., and he even telephoned me that evening at half- 
past nine from Peterhof that my audience was for four p.m. 
the next day. It was very evident to me in the interview that 
the Tsar was familiar with the cable, for he knew just where 
to turn in my translation for the phrase " substantial sum." 
He was absolutely prepared for certain questions, and seemed 
at a loss and even perplexed at other unexpected ones. He 
appeared to me this time as a man of no force, without any 
breadth of mind; he has the Russian capacity of passing by 
misfortunes that have taken place and seeing things in the 
future as he would have them, and instead of reasoning, resorts 
to the subterfuge that his conscience tells him that he must 
do thus. 

On my arrival at the Emperor's brick cottage in the park 
of Peterhof, I was instantly shown into his study, where he 
received me. From the windows one could have thrown a stone 
into the waters of the Gulf of Finland, and as we sat at the 
table, I could see Kronstadt in the distance. 



1905} AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 199 

I went through the form of reading your cable instruc- 
tions, and then the Emperor read me a part of his telegram 
sent that morning to the Kaiser, saying that, much as he 
wanted peace, it must be an honourable one for Russia and 
therefore he could not give up Russian territory, or pay a 
war-indemnity in any form. The Tsar then remarked that it 
was quite a coincidence that each time I came to see him he 
had had a telegram from the German Emperor (in their pri- 
vate code) urging him to make peace. 

I discussed Sakhaline and the payment of a " substantial 
sum," from all points of view. He even got out the map and 
I believe, if I had managed to have seen him before he had 
any conference, I would have obtained from him, not an exces- 
sive amount, but a liberal amount in payment as purchase 
money. He acted to me as though he had made a promise, 
or committed himself previously, not to pay for Sakhaline. 
When I asked him to realize that possession was nine points ' 
of the law, and that the entire island of Sakhaline would be- 
come Japanese territory, commanding the entrance to the 
Amur River, if division was not accepted, he answered that 
the straits were frozen over in winter and that troops could 
cross over on the ice, — " and be surrounded by the Japanese 
fleet," I replied, " after the ice breaks." He acknowledged it 
might take twenty years before they could bring a Russian 
navy up to a formidable point in every respect. 

The Tsar next took the ground that a division would 
only be a constant source of irritation and strife, and if peace 
was not to be a lasting and durable one, it was much better, 
sad as it might be, to continue war and finally make a lasting j 
peace, even if in the interim they should lose territory, which 
he felt sure in the end they would win back, as Japan's re- 
sources were such that they could not carry on the war indefi- 
nitely, continually getting further from their base of supplies. 



200 GEORGE von L. MEYER f^^^^ 

I begged him to turn to the map of the New England States 
and showed him how the natural boundarj-line was the St. 
Lawrence River, yet the actual boundary-line was an imaginary 
one to the south and east of it. Nevertheless, since the treaty 
had been signed, we had had no disturbances over it, which 
seemed to make quite an impression upon him. 

His Majesty having agreed to the division of Sakhaline, 
on the ground that the lower half was originally Japanese 
territory,^ I struggled for a " substantial sum." This he said 
" was simply a different form of paying a war-indemnity to 
Japan. He knew and realized that, after the war, the Japanese 
would need money. *' I have always felt that they commenced 
the war in a manner which was open to a good deal of criticism. 
Russia is not a vanquished nation. The Japanese are making 
claims not based alone on their victories, but as though they 
were at the gates of my Capitol. Why have they not attacked 
the army for nearly four months? They are also banking on 
the internal disturbances for compelling us to pay a war- 
indemnity, so as to obtain peace for the purpose of settling 
our troubles within the Empire. I believe, now, that it has 
come down to a question of money, the people will prefer to 
have the money used in their country rather than in Japan, 
and will show their loyalty in supporting my actions, and if 
necessary I will go to the front myself and join my army." 

When I called his attention to the fact that Japan was 
actually in possession of Sakhaline and could hardly be ex- 
pected to give up half of it without at least full payment of 
its real value, he asked: " But how can that be ascertained? " 
My reply was: by negotiation through his plenipotentiaries at 

1 Meyer wrote in his diary, August 23 : " As we had the map in front 
of us, and I called to his attention how important the upper half fof 
Sakhaline] was to Russia, opposite the mouth of the Amur, and having 
proved to him that the northern half was more Japanese territory, his- 
torically, than Russian, as it had been Japanese previous to 1870, there- 
fore it was not really Russian territory more than Port Arthur, it could 
consistently go to the Japanese." 



1905] AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 201 

Portsmouth. In my second cable I touched on this, and inti- 
mated that there was a possibility in this direction. The con- 
ditions under which the Tsar would make peace, at the end of 
my two-hours' audience, I cabled in my first dispatch. 

The Emperor's manner throughout the entire time was 
cordial and agreeable, and he instructed me to cable how much 
he appreciated the spirit that had prompted you and also the 
efforts that you had made, in which he appeared to be abso- 
lutely sincere. 

There is no doubt that the feeling in Russia has gained 
ground that it has come down to a question of indemnity, or 
a matter of roubles, as they say here, all the other points 
being settled or in such state that they can be solved. In one 
of my previous letters I stated that when it came down to a 
matter of roubles, there was no question as to Russia's 
patriotism. In our presidential campaign after the McKinley 
tariff, the Democrats, as you remember, made the campaign 
on the issue that the people's pockets were going to suffer, 
and the Democrats won out, to be sure on misrepresentation, 
but the Republicans had not the time to prove the contrary. 
Now the war party here are in a fair way of winning over the 
people by showing that if a war-indemnity has to be paid, it 
will have to come out of them and will prove a heavy extra 
burden, which in the end will only be used against them and 
the country by the Japanese. 

As to the discriminating tariff, which I expect to hear 
any day Witte has announced to you is to be removed, the 
inside history is as follows: The Minister of Finance agreed 
that in view of the United States Government's offer to take 
up the consideration of a commercial agreement under Article 3 
of the Dingley Tariff, the Russian Government would recom- 
mend removal of the discriminating duties in anticipation of 
the above agreement. He wanted, however, to await Witte's 



202 GEORGE von L. MEYER ^^^^^ 

return, as a courtesy to a former Minister of Finance who 
had put on these duties and who might want to be heard in 
opposition. After I saw what a splendid reception Witte had 
received in America, and how much he seemed to be pleased by 
it, I suggested to Mr. Kokovtzoff to cable Witte for an expres- 
sion of his opinion, as I felt that he would be less likely to 
oppose the removal at the height of his popularity ; and so 
it turned out, as he cabled in reply, withdrawing all opposition. 

I am enclosing to you various extracts from several Rus- 
sian papers, showing a great change of sentiment and that 
they are finally appreciating the spirit and motive that 
prompted your action. 

Your second cable instructing me to make it clear to His 
Majesty concerning the retrocession of North Sakhaline, and 
that the amount could be settled by further negotiation, I 
'orwarded at once, but as yet have had no acknowledgment. 

Believe me, my dear Mr. President, 

JRespectfully yours, 

George v. L. Meyer. 

P.S. If the bankers should refuse to loan Japan any more 
money in case of war, as the French bankers some months ago 
did with Russia, peace will of necessity be made. 

In writing on the same day, August 25, to his 
wife, Meyer referred again to the private correspond- 
ence between the Kaiser and the Tsar: "It is rather 
remarkable that since I have been here I have seen 
the Emperor three times, and between these meetings 
there has been a period of two months. He opened 
the conversation by saying: ' It is rather a coincidence 
that each time you have been to see me, I have had 
a telegram from the German Emperor in relation to 



1905] AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 203 

your visit.' He said; 'You know we have a special 
code and correspond directly.' In his last dispatch 
the Kaiser strongly urged on the Tsar peace. I men- 
tion this to show how the newspapers have misrepre- 
sented the German Emperor in his attitude on this 
war for the last year." 

For a few days more there was a lively interchange 
of cable messages between Meyer and President 
Roosevelt regarding the possible modification of the 
terms of peace to which the Tsar had consented. Then 
the following letter was written : — 

To President Roosevelt 

St. Petersburg, August 29, 1905. 
My dear Mr. President, — 

Monday night at eleven o'clock the Associated Press rep- 
resentative called me up on the telephone and read me a tele- 
gram which had just come to hand, stating that you had been 
authorized on behalf of Japan to waive all claims of any war- 
indemnity and to cede back to Russia the northern half of 
Sakhaline, the redemption price to be left to the arbitration 
of a mixed commission, following the precedent Great Britain 
established in the Dogger Bank incident. I wired you at once 
asking if this was authentic, and if the proposed commission, 
in determining the price of Sakhaline, would be absolutely re- 
lieved from taking into consideration Japan's war expenses. 
I thought this important to know, because it has not been so 
understood by the Tsar. If I had been authorized to say that 
Japan waived all claims of a war-indemnity and that, in 
deciding upon a price for the northern half of Sakhaline, 
Japan's war expenses were not to be taken into consideration, 
but merely the strategic and land value, I believe I could have 



204 GEORGE von L. MEYER ^^^^^^ 

pulled off peace with the Emperor on the 23rd of August ; be- 
cause, after he absolutely refused to pay a " substantial sum," 
I tried to commit him to the maximum amount which he would 
give, and after that failed, to agree to pay the real value of 
Sakhaline. It was then that he turned to me and inquired if 
I was asking that officially, under instructions. I replied that 
I had no instructions other than those contained in the cable 
which I had read him, but that I was endeavouring to find out 
exactly what he could and would do, in order to give you some- 
thing to work upon, as your object was to find a way out of 
the present impasse. Immediately after, he remarked : " How 
can the value be ascertained?" This information I cabled you 
through Adee, in order to use the secret code. 

I am enclosing you an extract of an article on the finan- 
cial condition of Japan, which is supposed to have caused 
Russia to act so decidedly and firmly in refusing to pay any 
war-indemnity. It was originally placed before the Govern- 
ment here by a French banker, who had been much in Japan 
and was familiar with conditions there. He was presented to 
the Foreign Office by Monsieur Bompard, the French Ambas- 
sador. There is also an article of the same purport in the 
September Scnbn.er*s. 

The difficulty has been that, while both Russia and Japan 
are desirous of peace, each has felt, aside from any victories 
or defeats, that they have the other at a disadvantage, Japan 
believing that Russia would be forced to sign peace and pay 
a war-indemnity on account of the internal disturbances, while 
Russia, on the other hand, thinks that financial ruin is staring 
Japan in the face if she continues the war. 

" Admiral Birileff, when he returned last month to St. 
Petersburg, repeated to the Tsar that he had found Linevich's 
army in splendid condition, and that in his belief there was no 
necessity at this moment for peace, and certainly not to pay 



1905] AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 205 

an indemnity. This had a great effect on His Majesty, as 
the Admiral is considered a conservative man of good judgment. 
Believe me, my dear Mr. President, 

' Respectfully yours, 

' Geokge v. L. Meyee. 



P.S. August 30. — This letter I dictated before leaving the 
Chancery late yesterday afternoon. Last evening at ten 
o'clock I received a telegram from Thompson, Associated Press 
representative at New Castle, stating: "Peace coaicluded," 
which was confirmed shortly afterwards by a dispatch from 
Melville Stone to the press agent here. 

I immediately wired, congratulating you and the world 
upon your great achievement. You have probably saved the 
lives of a quarter of a million of men and have placed humanity 
under a lasting debt of gratitude to you. Your success is also 
most gratifying, as the press representatives here on the Con- 
tinent have all prophesied that you had undertaken the im- 
possible. 

G. V. L. M. 

'' August 30. — Mr. Stead, of the London Review 
of Reviews, called on me this morning and I had an 
exceedingly interesting conversation with him about 
the Tsar and the Duma and what it may accomplish 
for Russia. Asked him to dine with me to-morrow. 

" Dined at the British Embassy ; about the same 
people as were there last time. Asked Sir Charles to 
cable to Japan to their minister, to find out the name 
of the French banker that came from Japan and gave 
to the Russian Government the condition of Japan's 
finances and caused the Tsar to be so firm against an 



206 GEORGE von L. MEYER t^^^^ 

indemnity, knowing Japan's needs and [that she was] 
therefore unable to continue the war for a long 
period. 

" August 31. — Mr. Stead dined with me last 
night, told me of his interview with Alexander III, 
and how he showed the British public that he was a 
peace Emperor; also described his work at the first 
peace conference. 

" The Russians are already beginning to say that, 
if they had only held out, they would have got the 
whole of Sakhaline; also regretting that they did not 
have one more battle, as they say this time they would 
have defeated the Japanese. Yet the evidence of all 
the military officers who are with the army from for- 
eign countries is to the contrary. Prince Hohenlohe, 
the Austrian military attache, says he does not want 
to read Russian papers for a week as they will now 
for the first time be winning battles! The President, 
while he has won the admiration of the world by his 
actions, must not expect gratitude from the Russians, 
as they will say they would have won but for him." 

A portion of a letter of August 31 to Mrs. Meyer 
touches thus upon the terms of peace and Meyer's 
part in securing them : — 

In fact the terms accepted were those I obtained from the 
Emperor in my memorable audience of the 23rd, and in regard 
to which, two days after, on a further appeal from the Presi- 
dent, he again stated through Count LamsdorfF that the terms 
which he had given to me personally, and with which I was 
thoroughly acquainted, were his ultimatum. At the Emperor's 



1905} AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 207 

request, I had written them out the next morning and signed 
them, forwarding them through the Minister of Foreign Affairs, 
who told me the next day that the Emperor was very much 
pleased, for the reason that they agreed with his understanding 
to a word. He had at first asked me to write them down before 
leaving his presence ; but as it was so late, he expressed his 
confidence in me by saying it would do if I would send them 
down the next morning. It was a responsibility after I left, 
which I almost regretted having accepted, because it was so 
easy to make a slip in a word or meaning, even with the best 
intentions and care. 

There were no demonstrations of any kind here on the 
arrival of the news, any more than there were when it became 
universally known that Rodjestvensky's fleet had been de- 
stroyed. Thompson, of the Associated Press, was very nice 
and cabled me the news instantly from New Castle, N. H., 
which I found on my desk as soon as I got home. I have also 
had cables of congratulation from Robert Bacon, Count 
Scheibler, Charles R. Flint, Frank Appleton, and others. 

After the achievement of peace, Meyer had not 
long to wait for the conge he greatly desired for the 
purpose of joining his family in America. A few 
passages from the diary, and a letter to President 
Roosevelt, will complete the record of the months in 
St. Petersburg during which it fell to him to perform 
one of his most distinguished pieces of public service: 

'^' September 4- — Dine with the Grand Duke and 
Grand Duchess Vladimir. . . . 

" The dinner was very simple. I took the Duchess 
in; the Belosselskys, Hohenlohe, Grand Duke Andre, 
two ladies-in-waiting, and A.D.C. 



208 GEORGE von L. MEYER f^9<^5 

" The Grand Duchess again said how pleased she 
was about peace, but the young lady-in-waiting on my 
right mentioned how interested she had been in my 
work, yet she wished peace had not come now, as she 
felt Russia had been disgraced and discredited before 
the world, and at this moment she should have made 
one more effort to redeem her reputation and her 
prestige before the world. This fairly represents the 
feelings of a great many Russians in St. Petersburg. 
Reports are coming, however, from inland cities and 
towns showing the relief and satisfaction that peace 
has been concluded and war finally ended. 

" September 6. — Baron d'Aehrenthal, Austrian 
Ambassador, lunched with me and congratulated me 
upon the successful part that I had played in the peace 
issue. Count and Countess Trauttmansdorff also 
came. They are to go to Berlin in October. 

" Called on Countess Kleinmichel, my landlady. 
She is at the Hotel Europa and leaves to-night for 
Paris. She remarked that peace was a great blessing 
and much needed by the country after all that had 
happened. She knew, she said, the real feeling as 
she had been travelling through it. Called at Lams- 
dorff's and congratulated him that Witte had been 
appointed through his efforts. Seemed very happy 
over the issue, and that the country was beginning to 
appreciate it. 

" Called on Mme. Melegari, the Italian Ambas- 
sadress. 

'' September 7, — Spring-Rice called this morning 
at 10 o'clock. Said W. T. Stead dined with him, was 



19051 AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 

most complimentary about the Emperor and myself. 
Spring-Rice was delighted at the President's success, 
and also for the part that I had taken in it. He still 
sees a great spectre in the German Emperor, and 
thinks Germany wanted to force France either to be- 
come her ally or to fight. Rouvier, now Prime Min- 
ister, says he will give up Morocco rather than have 
war with Germany, as their ally, Russia, is too weak 
now to be of any assistance. 

"" September 8. — A little after midnight last night 
received a cable granting me leave of absence, with 
privilege to visit the United States. Started Gennaro 
packing this morning, and shall try to get off to- 
morrow night by the Nord Express to Berlin, where 
I shall stop over for a day or two. 

"Pouch arrives from Berlin. Very busy at the 
Chancery as I am getting the courier to leave again 
to-night. 

" Go out to Krestovsky late in the afternoon, to 
get some exercise and tennis with Princess Susie and 
Prince Hohenlohe, and Bliss. Baroness Ramsay joins 
us later." 



To President Roosevelt 

' St. Peteesbubg, September 5, 1905. 
My dear Mr. President, — 

I received last night a cable from the State Department 
granting me leave of absence with privilege of visiting America, 
for which I desire to thank you, as there are several private 
matters which require my attention. 



208 GEORGE VON K MEYER ^^^^s 

All the Ambassadors are now asking for leave, and as one 
ladj said, " It will be the reign of the Charges d' Affaires." 

St. Petersburg (where the war party predominates) was 
not at first wholly pleased that peace had been concluded; but 
now that reports have come in from different parts of Russia 
showing satisfaction at the result, the bureaucracy is more 
reconciled. Many of those who had no friends or relations at 
the front still feel that one more attempt should have been made 
'' to redeem the reputation of the Russian army. Lamsdorff, 
however, for once tells me frankly that he is delighted and con- 
tented. There is a strong friendship between him and Witte, 
which has lasted for many years. 

There are serious troubles in Baku, and it is rumoured 
that there were disturbances yesterday again in Moscow, due 
to strikes; but I can learn nothing official, owing to the 
censorship. 

I was more than pleased to hear of the appointment of 
Robert Bacon as Assistant Secretary of State, in place of 
Loomis. Bob is a first-class fellow, conscientious, painstaking, 
and reliable. 

I hope to sail September 27th on the Kaiser Wilhelm II, 
and on my arrival shall report to you at once, either at Oyster 
Bay or Washington, as the case may be. 

Believe me, my dear Mr. President, 

' Respectfully yours, 

■ G. V. L. Meyeb.' 

"September 9. — Write my 200th dispatch since 
I arrived, on the 7th of April, in St. Petersburg. 
This does not include my weekly letter to the Presi- 
dent, posting him as to the conditions and course of 
events in Russia. Ever since Mr. Hay's death the 
President has been his own Minister of Foreign Af- 




MR. MEYER IX COSSACK COSTUME 



1905] AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 211 

fairs, often cabling me and signing his own name. 
The last part of the negotiations I cabled direct to 
President Roosevelt at Oyster Bay. 

" Leave the Kleinmichel house in charge of a 
butler, chef, chamber-maid, and an under-man, at an 
expense of 278 roubles per month. Take the six 
o'clock Nord Express for Berlin. Princess Susie 
Belosselsky and her sister-in-law Princess Kotschoubey 
on the train, with their children. Quite a number of 
people came down to see us off." 

The diary of Meyer's few days in Germany on 
his way home to America is notable for its long ac- 
count of an illuminating interview with the Kaiser. 
It records also his report to the Japanese Minister in 
Berlin upon the important work of the American 
Embassy in Russia, — not hitherto mentioned among 
the service performed by Mr. Meyer, — in caring for 
the Japanese prisoners of war. It follows him to 
Munich for a brief visit to his friends, the Somssichs; 
it shows him, as often on his travels, seizing oppor- 
tunities for exercise at golf; it notes his appointment 
to meet and lunch with the Kaiser at Hombiirg on 
Saturday the 16th. That day is recorded minutely. 

"September 16. — Reached Homburg at 8.45 and 
went direct to Ritter's Park Hotel. A few minutes 
after I got to my rooms, which were the ones the 
King of England always occupied when he came here 
as Prince of Wales, a messenger arrived from the 
Ober-Hofmarshal, Freiherr von Lyncker, enclosing an 
invitation to breakfast at the Schloss at 1 o'clock and 



212 GEORGE von L. MEYER ti905 

also granting me an audience at 12. This showed me 
that he wanted to have an extended conversation. 

" I presented myself promptly at 12, having timed 
the drive from Ritter's very carefully. I was received 
by Graf von Lyncker, and in a couple of minutes the 
door was thrown open and the German Emperor came 
forward and received me very cordially, saying he was 
glad to see me; then, laughing, he said, ' If you are not 
dressed too well ' ( I had come in frock coat and top 
hat under instructions ) , ' we will walk in the garden 
of the Schloss mit dem Cedern.' Then he started 
right off by saying, * I want to congratulate the Presi- 
dent and you on making peace.* 

" ' Your Majesty,' I replied, ' I am glad of the 
opportunity to assure you that I realize that, without 
your assistance and active interest, it would not have 
been accomplished.' 

" I then told him how the Tsar said the last time, 
that it was quite a coincidence that each time I came 
to see him he had a telegram from the German Em- 
peror. The Emperor stopped walking, laughed, and 
said, * It was a remarkable instance, was it not? 
Would you like to hear the history of the first part of 
the peace movement, and how I prepared the Tsar's 
mind? Well, you remember that his brother, the 
Grand Duke Michel, came to Berlin at the wedding 
of the Crown Prince? I took him to drive, and began 
talking about the war and asked him what he thought. 
He answered very quickly, " It ought to stop. The 
condition of the country is so disturbed that my 
brother should be able to give it his entire attention. 



1905] AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 213 

But the difficulty is to know how to bring this about." 
I said, " England cannot do it, because she is the 
ally of Japan. France can't because Japan will not 
have it, as she is your ally. I would be considered 
too interested a party. There remains the President 
of the United States, Mr. Roosevelt. He is a man 
of his word, active, of high ideals, and will have the 
confidence of Japan, and they also fear America, and 
your brother." " But we do not know him well enough 
to ask it, and how is it to be brought about? " " Why, 
have your brother send for the President's Ambas- 
sador, Mr. Meyer; I know him, he is a friend of the 
President, and you can depend on him." The Grand 
Duke assured me that he would not only inform his 
brother, but he would say as well that it was his 
firm conviction that this should be done now and 
quickly. 

" * I informed your President of this and sent a 
long letter, which I wrote myself, by the Grand Duke, 
to His Majesty the Tsar, giving my reasons and be- 
lief why it was important and necessary to conclude 
peace at the earliest possible moment.' 

" * You know the rest, and I congratulate you upon 
your work; and express to the President my con- 
gratulations upon the benefits he has conferred upon 
the world by his action. I have written the President 
quite fully as to my opinions and beliefs as to the 
outcome of this war and its probable results commer- 
cially. Already a part of it has commenced, in the 
formation of a Japanese trade syndicate to control and 
extend their trade and commercial relations. All our 



214 GEORGE VON L. MEYER 1^905 

trade will in the end suffer, but England's most of all 
because they are not as industrious and painstaking 
as the Germans and neglect their work at times for 
sport. The trouble of it all is this foolish alliance, 
which will prove on each occasion to be to Japan's 
advantage. They will also get English capital to 
exploit with, and with their cheap labour and low 
standard of requirements will conquer English for- 
eign competition.' 

" By this time it was after one o'clock, and I could 
hear the sound of voices of the royal family and 
their attendants through the open windows on the 
garden; but the Emperor started on another turn 
about the garden, talking continuously. Lunch had 
been fixed for 1 o'clock, but it was not until 1.15 that 
we entered the palace. 

" In the Grand Salon there were about forty 
people waiting for us, including the Empress, the 
Crown Prince and Princess of Germany, the Crown 
Prince and Princess of Greece, the Prince and 
Princess of Hesse, the brother of the Crown Prince 
of Greece, apparently an embarrassed lad, and Prince 
Adalbert, a charming young prince with delightful 
manners, in the Navy. The Empress came forward 
and greeted me, and I bowed and kissed her hand, 
and she very politely referred to my work at St. 
Petersburg, which permitted me to say it would have 
been futile unless the Emperor William had prepared 
the way, which apparently pleased her. Then the 
Emperor came forward and asked me if I had met 
his daughter-in-law, referring to the Crown Princess,, 



1905} AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 215 

and presented me himself. She is very tall and slight, 
with charming manners. 

" The Crown Prince looked at me with an air as 
much as to say, ' You have kept lunch waiting long 
enough.' He had been playing tennis, and was 
probably quite hungry. The doors were at that mo- 
ment thrown open, the Empress leading the way 
alone, the princesses and ladies-in-waiting following, 
then the Emperor, the Crown Prince, the Crown 
Prince of Greece; at the same time His Majesty 
turned and nodded for me to follow. The Empress 
sat down, with the Crown Prince of Germany on her 
right and Crown Prince of Greece on her left. On 
the right of the Crown Prince was the Princess of 
Hesse, next to her was the Prince of Greece, then 
myself, and on my right a pretty Grafin, lady-in- 
waiting to the Empress. Opposite to the Empress sat 
the Emperor, with the Crown Princess of Germany 
on his right; on the other side of her was Prince 
Adalbert. On the left of the Emperor was the 
Crown Princess of Greece, and on her left the Prince 
of Hesse. There were about forty at table, incl iding 
General von Plessen, who went to America with 
Prince Henry, and Hof marshal von Lyncker. 

" The breakfast was beautifully served — French 
cooking and delicious Moselle wine. During the lunch 
the Emperor looked across the table, smiled, and drank 
my health. I rose in my chair and drank in return, 
holding up my glass afterwards, as is the German 
custom. After lunch the ladies retired to the salon, 
and the men stayed in the dining-room, the Emperor 



216 GEORGE von L. MEYER ^^^^5 

and Princes going on the balcony and lighting their 
cigarettes. In about fifteen minutes the Emperor 
came back, beckoned to me and we went down to the 
end of the dining-room, and going out on the balcony 
we stood there talking for another hour. 

" I told his Majesty that the morning I was to 
have an audience with the Tsar in connection with 
the President's invitation to send plenipotentiaries, my ' 
secretary informed [me] that Delcasse had resigned. 
I remarked then, 'Thank God! I may now have a 
chance of getting the Tsar to accept the President's 
invitation to the Peace Conference.' 

" At that the Emperor launched out and said 
Delcasse was riding straight for war with Germany 
or a fall, counting on England's support. ' I did not 
care anything about Morocco, but I was bound to 
bring it to an issue and either force Delcasse to show 
his hand or resign. Mr. Bourgeois went to the Presi- 
dent, Loubet, and said, " Do you realize that you are 
on the eve of a war with Germany?" — at which the 
President was astounded and said, " What do you 
mean? You are crazy." "Not at all," replied Bour- 
geois; "Delcasse had made his plans and, relying on 
English understanding, is headed that way. May I go 
to Rouvier and call his attention to the facts? " Per- 
mission being granted, he went to Rouvier, who was 
much surprised and disturbed, whereupon he called a 
meeting of the Cabinet and questioned Delcasse as to 
his policy, etc. Delcasse showed indifference as to 
German feeling, and, when asked as to his policy as 
to Morocco, and if it was true he intended sending a 



1905] AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 217 

fleet of ironclads to Morocco, said, " Yes ; " and, when 
asked if Germany should take it as a hostile demon- 
stration, shrugged his shoulders and spoke of the Eng- 
lish Entente. As a result of this, he was not upheld 
by Rouvier and the Cabinet. Delcasse handed in his 
resignation, going out and slamming the door after 
him.' 

" The Emperor in part blames the King of Eng- 
land for Delcasse's attitude; said that Edward was 
mixing up and prying into things; had attempted 
through the Emperor of Austria to break the Triple 
Alliance and weaken Germany's friendship with Italy, 
and had endeavoured to strengthen his relationship with 
Spain by offering the daughter of the Duke of Con- 
naught to the King of Spain, which was refused. 

" In addition to whatever strained relations may 
exist between England and Germany, I observed to 
myself that it was augmented at present by a family 
jealousy between the Emperor and the King of Eng- 
land. In the first place, the Emperor felt very sore 
that the King of England came to Marienbad with- 
out calling on him, especially after the papers had 
announced it was going to take place; the King of 
England in a most rude way told the German Ambas- 
sador that he had no idea of seeing his nephew. The 
Emperor referred to his going to England for a week 
when Queen Victoria died; and also, a year ago, to 
the splendid reception the King of England had re- 
ceived at Kiel and Homburg, which Edward said 
could not have been warmer if he had been in Liver- 
pool. The King of England had invited the Crown 



218 GEORGE von L. MEYER ^^^^^ 

Prince, when he ^vas engaged, to go to England, and 
then again lately. He had told his son that he could 
not have him accept an invitation from the King when 
that King showed such rudeness to his father. How- 
ever, there would be no war, as the feeling between the 
people of England and Germany was better than be- 
tween the rulers. 

" I then had an opportunity to speak about the 
proposed German and American races between the 
Kiel and Eastern Yacht Club of Boston, for small 
boats of about thirty feet, — that it would go far to 
promote and increase friendly feeling. He was much 
interested in it and is to take it up with Admiral 
von Linden. 

" It was then that Prince Adalbert came and 
announced that the Crown Prince of Greece and their 
party were about to leave in their automobile. We 
all went downstairs and saw them off, the Emperor 
presenting me to the Crown Princess of Greece, who 
in turn congratulated me upon my work in St. Peters- 
burg. The Empress then bade me good-bye, as did 
Prince Adalbert. The Emperor then shook me 
warmly by the hand and said, ' Be sure and take my 
congratulations to the President ; ' asked after my wife 
and daughters, and asked also by what steamer I was 
sailing; smiled when I said, 'As always, by the Nord 
Deutscher line Kaiser Wilhelm II.' It was then 
3.15, and I had been there at 11.45. 

" I left delighted with the attention and charming 
hospitality that I had received and much impressed 
with the Emperor's knowledge not only of national 



1905] AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 219 

affairs, but his grasp and intimate acquaintance of 
commercial conditions throughout the world." 

Mr. Meyer proceeded immediately from Homburg 
to Paris, and after a short motor trip in northern 
France with friends, sailed for home on September 27. 
On the day after landing he reported to the President 
in Washington, and wrote in his diary : — 

''October 4. — Arrive in Washington at 7 a.m. 
Go to the New Willard Hotel, an excellent modern 
hotel, up to date. I call on Root, who is just about 
to take the train for New York, but wants me to 
lunch with him the next day. Called on Adee, who 
was very complimentary about my work at St. P. — 
also Robert Bacon, who has not yet taken the oath 
as Assistant Secretary of State and was having 
Loomis coach him; then on Governor Taft, who was 
in great spirits. 

"Lunch with the President at 1.30. Admiral 
Bronson was there, and a Mr. Tucker from the South, 
also Mrs. Roosevelt. The President was very flat- 
tering about the work done in St. Petersburg, and 
said that later he wanted me to enter his Cabinet, but 
could not say the exact date. Asked me to come 
round to dinner in the evening, as he wanted to talk 
further with me. Spent the afternoon with Robert 
Bacon; we called on Rosen, who seemed glad to see 
me again. He amused me by explaining, as all Rus- 
sians do now, how they would have won the next 
battle if there had been one ! 

" The President that evening told me, to my sur- 



220 GEORGE von L. MEYER ^^^^^ 

prise, that the Japanese had asked him to make peace 
for them, and that he had from the first told them 
that they could not expect an indemnity unless they 
got to Petersburg or Moscow. Said that he had given 
to Witte copies of his letters to Kaneko, and to the 
Japanese copies of his cables to the Tsar through me. 
A very wise thing for him to do. 

" The President said that he desired me in his 
Cabinet, but could not say which post it would be, 
possibly Secretary of Navy. Then he asked me point 
blank, ' Tell me if you think you could fill the place 
of Secretary of the Treasury?' I hesitated and said 
that I should like to talk it over with some friends; 
that it would be conceited for me to say right off that 
I could, yet I believed I could. Moody, he thought, 
was going out either next July or a year from March. 
He, the President, wanted me to have at least two 
years — it was only right. I thanked him and said 
nothing would give me more pleasure, and that I 
should be very proud, naturally, to serve. 

" When I called again on Taft, his first words 
were, * Well, when are you coming into the Cabinet?* 
My answer was, * I imagine when Moody decides 
about his resigning.' * I do not see any reason,' he 
said, * why there should not be two men from one 
state, certainly for a while.' 

'"'' October 5. — Breakfast with Secretary Root, and 
afterwards we take a drive. Make many suggestions 
to him about improving the efficiency of our Diplo- 
matic Corps abroad and the necessity of keeping the 
Chiefs of Mission better posted, the desirability of a 



19051 AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 221 

new code and also a French code, a uniform system 
of keeping the books, and having the Secretaries serve 
in the State Department for a while before going to 
their posts, having a special clerk who should pay at- 
tention to collecting information and cabling the same, 
etc. Mr. Root is going to try and reorganize the 
State Department and bring up the efficiency." 

During Meyer's stay of seven weeks in America, 
he received many tokens of appreciation for what he 
had done in Russia — none more gratifying than the 
dinner at which sixty members of his Class at Harvard 
did him honour. In the unsettled state of Russian 
affairs, he would have returned more promptly but for 
the illness of one of his daughters. About a week be- 
fore sailing he paid a second visit to Washington, 
recorded in his diary : — 

^' November 13. — Arrived in Washington at 8.15 
A.M. Whitney Warren ^ went on with me. Received 
word at 10.15 from the White House that the Presi- 
dent would see me at once in his office. Was very 
cordial and really seemed glad to see me. Found 
Governor Winthrop ^ of Porto Rico with him when I 
entered. He at once said, ' I hope your dear wife is 
not put out with me, but as, during the Commune, 
the American Minister was the only Chief there, so 
I think now you should be there as soon as possible. 
My wife was ill when I went to Cuba, but there come 
times when one has to do one's duty and leave the 

1 One of the closest of Meyer's friends in New York. 

2 Beekman Winthrop, afterwards Assistant Secretary of the Navy 
under Meyer. 



222 GEORGE VON L. MEYER l^^^^ 

family, and I realize that it is awfully hard on the 
wife.' He then asked after Julia. I informed him 
that I intended to sail on the 21st by the Kron Prinz, 
and consulted him as to the advisability of stopping at 
London and Berlin, to see in each case the Minister 
of Foreign Affairs, and possibly Emperor William. 
He thought well of it, but said, ' Consult Root.' 

" Next went over to the State Department. Root 
also believed in my getting in touch with the Foreign 
Office, both in London and Berlin, but thought it 
would not do to leave out France. Suggested my 
seeing if I could not get Witte to say something that 
would reassure the Jewish element and quiet public 
sentiment. Realized that it was a delicate matter for 
us to interfere in any way and that certain Jews in 
America were merely striving for notoriety. The 
President had asked me to dine at the White House 
at 3 P.M., — 'in old clothes, and we will take a walk; 
bring Bob Bacon with you.' We assembled at 3 p.m. 
Bacon, the Assistant Secretary of State, took Pinchot 
and myself in the auto, and an African hunter and 
Sheldon went with the President. We reach the Park 
and there we walked for three hours, going over hills, 
climbing cliffs on which if we had slipped we would 
have surely broken a leg or an arm, then crossing 
brooks, fields, and brushing through thick woods. We 
got back to the White House after six o'clock. 

" The dinner at eight o'clock was made up of the 
same men who had been on the walk, with the addition 
of Garfield and a Dr. Wheeler of California, Mrs. 
Roosevelt and Miss Alice being away. The conversa- 



1905} AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 223 

tion was most general — big game, politics, diplomacy, 
Russia, and railroad rates. At half past ten I had to 
leave to pack my things as I was going back to New 
York on the 11.30 with Whitney Warren. The Presi- 
dent on my leaving said, ' Say to the Emperor that 1 was 
impressed with his combined wisdom and judgment in 
making peace, and his decision to return to Japan the 
Japanese part of Sakhaline, without which peace could 
not have been concluded ' ; also that I might say that he 
had told Takahira that in his judgment they could not 
expect Russia to pay an indemnity." 

On the way back to Russia Meyer met with no 
experiences more significant than those encou»tered at 
London, Paris, and Berlin in fulfilment of the plan 
upon which he had agreed with Secretary Root. They 
are related in the diary. 

" [London] November 28. — Lunch with Mr. Reid^ 
and his daughter at Dorchester House. Some very fine 
paintings. At 2.45 the Ambassador and I leave for the 
Foreign Office, to call by appointment on Lord 
Lansdowne. I found that Lansdowne did not see any 
necessity of their ambassador hurrying out to St. P., 
as there was nothing that he could do. His Govern- 
ment was satisfied that the Russian Government was 
doing all that it could to protect life and property 
of British citizens. He thought things looked very 
badly, but hoped, as there appeared to be no organized 
leaders, that this revolutionary movement would spend 
its force. There had been no disturbances of a really 

iWhitelaw Reid, American Ambassador in London. 



224 GEORGE von L. MEYER f^'^^ 

serious character as yet in Petersburg. They had 
taken no special precautions for their Embassy. As 
to Sebastopol and Odessa, they had arranged with 
the Turkish Government that a government vessel 
should go through the Straits and rescue their na- 
tionals in case of need. They had also sent a naval 
officer to superintend the embarkation. Many of the 
vp^ives and daughters of the factory hands had been 
sent out of the country for safety. Lord Lansdowne 
added that he would be very glad to have Spring-Rice 
act in concert with me. 

" [Paris] November 29. — . . . Call at the Em- 
bassy and arrange for the four marines who have arrived 
in Paris, and are under the charge of Captain Smith, to 
leave Saturday on the Nord Express for St. Peters- 
burg. Cable Root the result of my conversation with 
Lansdowne, and wire Eddy to have the four men met 
at the frontier. 

" Go at six o'clock to keep my appointment at the 
Palais d'Orsay with M. Rouvier. Found him in ap- 
pearance older than I expected and quite bent, but 
quite frank and outspoken. He seemed quite worried 
by the outlook and course of events — France is a 
tremendous holder of Russian securities — and could 
not understand the people's actions, what they were 
finally dri\ing at, and where it would end. He wanted 
to congratulate the President of the United States on 
his great achievement and was kind enough to add, 
*Your part also.' He added his admiration for the 
President's energy and spirit, and after saying he v/as 
pleased to make my acquaintance, escorted me into the 



1905} AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 225 

outer room, added that Mr. Bompard would be 
pleased to act in concert with me. 

" I called on the Grand Duchess Vladimir, who 
was staying incog at the Continental. She had left 
St. Petersburg last Monday, and assured me that 
none of the things at present were exaggerated about 
the affairs in Russia, and was most discouraged about 
the outlook or prospects of improvement. They had 
all thought that Witte would have a following. The 
Grand Duke had resigned, and therefore had nothing 
more to say. She had urged that he come with her. 
Thanked me for coming round, and would like to send 
a letter by me. 

" I asked the Grand Duchess if it was true that 
the Socialists were sending men in officers' uniforms 
into the country, who in turn assembled the peasants 
with their horses and carts and then read them the 
Ukase of the Emperor which promised the division of 
crown lands. Then they would designate an estate, 
and tell the peasants to go and divide it up. When 
they arrived there, the owner or agent would say that 
it did not apply to them, as it was not crown lands. 
The peasants would then say that they had just re- 
ceived orders direct from the Emperor's agent, and 
therefore they would seize the property; which they 
proceeded to do, destroying and burning when they 
were opposed. H.R.H. the Duchess Vladimir in- 
formed me it was quite true. 

" [Berlin] December 2. — Arrive in Berlin at 7.30 
A.M., clear and cold. Receive word that Prince von 
Biilow, the Chancellor, will receive me at 7 p.m. The 



226 GEORGE von L. MEYER I^^^^ 

first Secretary, Mr. Dodge/ of the American Embassy, 
notifies me that the Emperor cannot receive me until 
after the 4th, as he is off shooting. 

" The Russian Charge d' Affaires at Berhn came 
to my room in the Bristol to have a private talk. 
He said they are quite discouraged and alarmed about 
affairs in his country; that the naval revolt had been 
exaggerated, but it was serious enough any way. Said 
his Emperor was kindly and well-meaning but lacked 
force and action. * Why, the Emperor, the other day 
remarked that, " we are having strange experiences," 
quite calmly and almost unconcernedly.' The Em- 
press, Mr. B. said, had an evil influence over the 
Emperor and had brought ill luck to his country. 
They could not find out who was back of the Socialists 
and revolutionary movement, and did not understand 
who was conducting it. Witte had the confidence of 
no one except his fellows in the bureaucracy. 

" Lunch at the Bristol with Garrett.^ 

" Call on von Biilow at 7 o'clock, and am received 
in the house which Bismarck occupied in Wilhelm- 
Strasse. Bismarck would not recognize it, except on 
the outside, as Princess von Biilow, who was the 
daughter of Donna Laura Minghetti, has given an 
Italian touch to every room, and as to her salon — 
you imagine yourself back in Rome. I had only to 
wait five minutes, but the Chancellor sent even then a 
messenger to excuse him keeping me waiting a mo- 
ment. He received me very cordially, calling me by 

1 H. Percival Dodge. 

2 J. W. Garrett, Second Secretary at the American Embassy. 



1905] AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 227 

middle name, Mr. von Lengerke, as he always has, 
and remarked that the Emperor would regret being 
away, ' as he is very fond of you.' 

" I thanked him and said I might be here until the 
7th, that I had seen Lord LansdoWne in London and 
Rouvier in Paris, and without abusing any confidence, 
said that I found the latter very nervous as to the affairs 
in Russia, but for some reason I found them much 
more optimistic in Berlin, and that I wanted to ask him 
the cause of it. He answered, ' I will tell you all I 
know. France has very much at stake, holding 15 mil- 
liards (francs) in Russian notes, which naturally wor- 
ried Rouvier, as he watches the finances very carefully.' 
Germany had about 3 milhards. Then he had advices 
from military attaches, who assured them that, while the 
navy could not be relied upon and was in a deplorable 
condition, it was their opinion that the army could be de- 
pended upon to stand by the Tsar, and that we had seen 
the worst. We both agreed, however, that Witte was 
between two fires — the Ducal party not trusting him, 
and the Liberals and Zemtsvos having no confidence in 
his integrity. What Russia needed now was a strong 
hand which would inspire confidence and respect. He 
never remembered in the history of any country a revo- 
lutionary spirit which heretofore had not developed a 
leader. No one could ascertain who was back of it. 
I remarked that the trouble was that there were no real 
leaders on either side. There was general discontent 
and a spontaneous movement of strikes throughout the 
country. 

"I thanked von Bulow for the kind offer of the 



228 GEORGE voN L. MEYER ^^^^-^ 

Navy Department — which was, if R.R. communica- 
tions should stop again, they would then do as they 
had before for a short time, send their dispatches and 
courier by torpedo service; they would be very glad 
to carry any communications to me or convey our own 
courier. 

^' December 5. — Go out to Potsdam on the 7 p.m. 
train, where I am met at the Emperor's station of wild 
park by a royal carriage, which drives me quickly, and 
in a few minutes to the so-called New Palace, which, 
however, was built by Frederick the Great. I little 
thought in 1878, when I went over (I was then a 
junior at Harvard), that later in life I should be the 
honoured guest of the evening, entertained by the 
Emperor and Empress of Germany. I was received 
by a lady-in-waiting of the Empress. Later an 
A.D.C. told me my seat at dinner, having a plan to 
designate the seat, which was second from the Em- 
peror, the Duchess of Holstein (sister of the Empress) 
sitting between the Emperor and myself. 

" We went in to dinner informally, the Empress 
leading with her sister and her daughter and the 
ladies-in-waiting; then the Emperor, Prince Henry, 
Prince Eitel, myself, and the others. At dinner the 
conversation was quite general, the Emperor quite 
often leaning forward and talking across the Duchess 
of Holstein about the new steamer, Amerika, which 
runs between Hamburg and America, describing the 
five decks which were each named after a president 
and connected by elevators and with a Ritz restaurant 
on the upper deck. I had a pecuhar discussion with 



; r;j] AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 229 

the Duchess of Holstein about the advisability of in- 
troducing Christianity in the East — which I con- 
tended against as being detrimental to those races, 
which seemed to strike her as very sad. 

" After dinner the Emperor came forward and 
said, ' Come, we will have a smoke together.' I then 
told him that the President had instructed me to ask 
him if he had observed the difference in the tone of 
the cable to him and that to the King of England. He 
said, ' Not only did I notice it and appreciate it, but 
it had an instantaneous effect all over the world, 
especially in England and France,' where he had been 
designedly misrepresented. He added that it was a 
very generous thing for the President to do. I also 
told him that, as a result of our conversation and my 
representations, the President told me to say that he 
had changed his opinions as to Delcasse. Finally I 
told His Majesty that the President wanted to make 
clear that the questions of the Commercial Treaty did 
not depend upon him, but rested entirely with the Sen- 
ate, who were not at the moment in a very favourable 
mood. The Emperor said he quite understood the 
situation. 

" He then went on to tell me about the gravity of 
the situation in Russia, and did not think that the 
Tsar appreciated it, had doubts as to the reliability of 
the army; thought the strikes were trying to force a 
republic. Had lately heard that they were trying to 
mobilize 450,000 Cossacks. If such is the case, the 
Kaiser said, ' Possibly the Emperor intends to en- 
deavour to reconquer the country.' 



230 GEORGE von L. MEYER tioos 

" Referring to England, he said, ' I see symptoms 
of reaction against the bitter feeling in Germany. On 
the King's birthday, knowing that he loves fine porce- 
lain, I sent him two beautiful vases, requesting that 
they be put on his birthday table. I also took the pre- 
caution to say that they had been sent, and with them 
my felicitations. Wire came back from the King that 
he thanked me for them, but they had not come to hand. 
On investigation, it was found that Lord Knollys ^ had 
had them sidetracked to Buckingham.' The Emperor 
said Knollys was always hostile to Germany in every 
possible way, and greatly influenced the King. The 
King, however, wired that they were brought down on 
a special train and displayed at the birthday dinner. 

" It was at 10.30 that Count Eulenburg came up 
and said the Ambassador had only fifteen minutes to 
catch the train ; we had been talking steadily since din- 
ner. I went to take my departure of the Empress, 
and she said to me that she had hoped to have a little 
chat with me, but the Emperor *kept you the entire 
evening.' She wished me a hon voyage. The Emperor 
added, ' Aufwiedersehen,' and Prince Henry said, 
*With your permission the Princess Henry will send 
you a letter for her sister, the Empress, which she begs 
you to deliver by a trusted messenger after your ar- 
rival in St. Petersburg.' " 

Meyer's diary for the few remaining weeks of 1905 
touches upon the many disturbances of a revolutionary 
character throughout Russia, on changes in the Diplo- 

1 Private Secretary to King Edward VII. 



1905} AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 231 

matic Corps at St. Petersburg, and on personal mat- 
ters, including the note on December 18, " It is thought 
that we may have trouble later on, so I have ordered 
200 cartridges for my rifle and 200 cartridges. No. 2 
buckshot, for my guns." The chief points of general 
interest are covered in the following letters : — 

To Senator Lodge 

St. Petersburg, December 12, 1905. 
My deak. Cabot, — 

... In London I talked with Lansdowne, in Paris 
with Rouvier, and in Berlin with von Biilow and also the Em- 
peror. I cabled Mr. Root the gist of what happened, and have 
since written the President, as well as the Secretary of State. 

Conditions here have entirely changed ; the Government 
is showing the same incompetency as to handling the internal 
situation that they did in the late war. The reactionists are 
plotting against Witte, and the liberals do not believe in his 
integrity, and they themselves are divided up into groups work- 
ing at cross purposes. 

The Socialist and Labour Unions are working in common, 
and although they have not developed any leaders, they have 
a very complete organization for establishing strikes when and 
wherever they like. Their aim is to cause the overthrow of the 
existing government and bring about a republic. They are 
quite intoxicated with their success and taste of power, and are 
likely to overdo it, causing a reaction and possibly bringing 
about a military dictatorship, which would mean a return to old 
methods and great bloodshed. Every one is excited and 
nervous, and no one goes out on the street without being armed. 

The financial situation of the Government is a very diffi- 
cult one. Twice they have been on the point of closing great 
loans, and each time they have been indefinitely postponed : once 



232 GEORGE von L. MEYER t^^^^ 

during the war, when the French bankers withdrew, and again 
only lately, when the papers were practically drawn up for a 
350,000,000 rouble loan and the general strike prevented it. 
Now great quantities of money are being withdrawn from the 
banks and savings-banks and transferred out of the country. 

Witte is going to try and hold on if possible until the 
Duma meets ; but the election day has not been named nor the 
date of the meeting of the Duma fixed. As a matter of fact the 
Constitution has never yet been signed — merely the Manifesto 
of the Tsar, which could be revoked at any moment. One of 
Witte's intimate friends came to see me yesterday.^ Can you 
imagine — Witte has made no arrangements for an organiza- 
tion in order to ensure himself a group of representatives on 
whose support he could count when the Duma met. He is a 
financier, not a statesman, or even a practical politician. The 
people are all nearly crazy here, and are not contented with any 
concessions ; having got started, now they want all the reforms 
in one fell swoop, which the other nations have taken generations 
to accomplish; and to cap the climax, they demand universal 
suffrage for women as well as men, notwithstanding that there 
are a hundred million illiterates in the Empire. One day we 
are told that there will be a general strike, and then that Witte 
is to resign and a military dictator to succeed him. Everything 
in fact is rumoured, from the flight of the Tsar down. 

To show the importance and seriousness of the Grand 
Dukes, they had a shooting party of two days during the time 
of the most alarming strike. 

Wishing you and yours a Merry Christmas and Happy 
New Year, believe me. 

Sincerely yours, 

G. V. L. Meyer.' 

1 The diary of the preceding day records a visit from Dr. E. J. Dillon, 
of the London Daily Telegraph. 



1905} AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 233 

To Mrs. Meyer 

St. Petersburg, December \9, 1905. 
. . . To-daj was the Emperor's name-day and there 
was a great service at the St. Isaac's Cathedral. All the Diplo- 
matic Corps went — I was the doyen, as the only other Am- 
bassador there was the new Spanish one, the Turk not going, as 
they won't let him wear his fez in the Cathedral. We were on 
a raised platform next to the altar. Neither the Emperor nor 
any of the Russian Grand Dukes were there — I think they 
were afraid to come. Witte and all the officials and a great 
many officers in their gala uniforms were there, and it was a 
very impressive sight. There were wonderful bass voices in 
the choir, and magnificent gold costumes worn by the priests. 
The service lasted about from 12 to 1. . . . 

The Government evidently has got tired of these strikes, 
and they are now arresting the leaders right and left. The 
labour unions have issued a manifesto against the arrests, and 
we are liable to have a big strike; but I have laid in an addi- 
tional supply of food and candles, and there is no occasion for 
you to worry about me. In all the disturbances that have taken 
place in the out-of-the-way cities and towns, none of the con- 
sulates have ever been touched or even foreign property of citi- 
zens ever been molested. This has always been the history in 
all troubles, and even in revolutions. There may be times when 
we cannot cable you on account of a strike, but I hope to be 
able to keep you closely informed. 

To President Roosevelt 

' St. Petersburg, December 20, 1905. 
My dear Mr. President, — 

History seems to be repeating itself, and there is a strange 
resemblance between certain events in France during 1789 and 
that which is now taking place here: 



234 GEORGE von L\ MEYER ^^^^^ 

1. The discontent of the people. 

2. The delajang of the date of meeting of the Duma, 
and whether it will develop into a real national assembly, as 
did the Tliird Estate, and bring forth such men as Mirabeau 
and Robespierre, remains to be seen. 

3. The position of Witte as compared to that of Neckar; 
the former capable, but no statesman, the latter lacking in the 
same respect, but honest and more popular. 

4. Now, as then, loyalty to the Sovereign exists amojig 
the people, and even soldiers ; but will it not also later on die 
out here if reforms are too long delayed and merely promised 
on paper .^^ 

At present the faith in the Tsar continues because the 
people believe it is the bureaucracy and certain Grand Dukes 
that hamper the Emperor in carrying out what he has promised. 

In one of my letters last year I wrote you that, if the 
army remained loyal, changes would come about by evolution 
rather than revolution. Since then, however, the navy has 
shown itself absolutely rotten, and there has been insubordina- 
tion in the army at Vladivostok, Harbin, Odessa, Sebastopol, 
KiefF, Moscow, and even St. Petersburg. Rumours have reached 
us lately that it is very serious among the troops in Man- 
churia. Now, after the trouble has actually begun, an Ukase 
has been issued stating that the rations and clothing for the 
army are to be improved and their pay increased. Like every- 
thing else that has been done here the last two years, it comes 
possibly too late. 

Reaction, during the last few days, has set in. Newspaper 
offices are being closed, editors arrested and placed in the 
prison of Peter and Paul, the Bastille of St. Petersburg, and 
labour-union leaders are run in by the police and Cossacks in 
great numbers. Unfortunately for the Government the Social- 
istic unions appear to be admirably organized, in which respect 



1905} AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 235 

the Witte Government is woefully lacking. Matters must soon 
come to a crisis and unless all signs fail, the strength of the 
Government will be tested by further strikes which are liable 
to end in revolution. 

On the 19th of January is the celebration of the blessing 
of the waters of the Neva. It will be just a year since the 
cannon ball was fired into the Winter Palace from across the 
river. It is rumoured that the Emperor's entourage have per- 
suaded him not to attend the fete but to have it at Tsarskoe 
Selo, where he is living like a caged animal, in a park surrounded 
by a high iron railing and barbed-wire fence. It will be a fatal 
mistake if His Majesty does not come to St. Petersburg and 
show himself on this occasion to his people, thereby winning 
their admiration and gaining the respect of the world. If he 
fails to come, he will be branded a coward, and the socialists 
and revolutionists will surely make capital out of it. . . . 

Wishing you and yours a Happy New Year; believe me, 
my dear Mr. President, 

' Respectfully yours, 

' George v. L. Meyee. '- 

To Mrs. Meyer 

St. Petersburg, Xmas, December 25, 1905. 
. . . Sunday I was at a place named Tosno to get some 
shooting. It was wonderful in the country — there was a foot 
of snow which had got trampled down on the road and made 
the sleighing perfect. I went out Saturday night, arrived there 
at half-past nine after a sleigh ride of about three-quarters 
of an hour. It was a beautiful night and perfectly still, and 
in my felt shoes and new fur cap and coat I was as warm and 
comfortable as if I had been in a room. Next morning I went 
to the place in the woods where we had the " drive," with two 
Russians, and in the afternoon I shot a moose — a great big 



236 GEORGE von L. MEYER f^^^'^ 

fellow. Got back to the Kleinmichel house at six o'clock Sun- 
day afternoon. That evening being Christmas Eve, the Prince 
and Princess Fiirstenberg, Prince and Princess Belosselsky, and 
Prince Hohenlohe dined with me. After dinner we went to the 
ballet, where I had a box next to the Imperial one. 

This is certainly an extraordinary country. There was 
shooting and firing going on in the streets of Moscow, yet here 
was the ballet being given in a theatre as large as the Boston 
Theatre, except that the balconies consist of tiers of boxes, 
given in all its splendour with the theatre crowded ; ladies in 
evening costume with all their jewels, and really a most brilliant 
affair. The ony significant feature was that no royalty was 
present. It was the most beautiful ballet that I have ever seen, 
and consisted of three acts, in a variety of costumes, one act 
being made up of dances from different countries — Hungary, 
Poland, etc., and many of the women on the stage being really 
handsome. To my mind the most attractive dance was given 
by eight women in long ball-room dresses, holding fans in their 
hands, and all the women of same height and good figure. The 
performance was over at a very sensible hour — half-past ten. 
Among the people there were Mrs. Whishaw and her daughter, 
who were with the Spring-Rices. I also met the Whishaws walk- 
ing on the Quay this afternoon. 

The troubles in Moscow have been certainly serious, but I 
believe the loss of life is very much exaggerated. A reaction 
has set in with the Government and they are determined now in 
the future to put down any revolutionary movement. I do not 
anticipate any serious trouble in Petersburg. If you were 
living here, you would not know that anything out of the way 
was going on, except for what you read in the papers taking 
place in other cities and towns throughout the Empire. 



1905] AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 237 

To Mrs. Meyer 

' St. Petersburg, December 30, 1905. 
. . . The situation in Moscow, from advices that we 
received to-day, is gradually improving. It has got down to a 
guerilla warfare with the revolutionists who build barricades 
and then shoot at the troops out of the windows. The troops 
have remained loyal, fresh troops have arrived from St. Peters- 
burg, and consequently this attempt will prove a failure. The 
country, however, is so agitated and disturbed that it will take 
months and possibly years, before order is established through- 
out the Empire. Petersburg remains quiet. There have been 
some very amusing hooligan stories. They come up to people 
and demand money, and in one instance a lady gave all she had 
and thereupon asked how she was to get home. The hooligan 
replied: "Allow me, Madam, to have the privilege of paying 
your fare." And he put her in a droshky and sent her home. In 
another instance a hooligan asked the privilege of kissing a 
lady's hand, which she reluctantly allowed, and then he said: 
" Now you can kiss mine." But the best of all was the case of 
the man who, on a cold night, was accosted by two hooligans, 
who demanded his watch and overcoat. He thereupon said, 
*' I'll give you my watch, willingly, but if I give up my coat, I 
shall take my death cold." The hooligans said : " That's easily 
remedied, we will swap coats." On getting home the gentleman, 
out of curiosity, looked through the tattered coat and, to his 
surprise and pleasure, found a hundred roubles and another 
watch. 

You would be amused if you saw me driving in my sleigh, 
with my Russian fur coat, collar turned up, and my Russian 
fur cap, so that no one can see anything but my eyes and, 
possibly, red nose. The coachman In front is so big and so 
padded that I cannot see out on either side. My pair of grey 



238 GEORGE VON L. MEYER t^^^^ 

horses have blue nets, so that the snow cannot be thrown up, 
and Otto stands up in majestic grandeur behind. I will try and 
have a photograph taken. I am using the open sleigh both 
night and da}', because I prefer it to the closed carriage now. 
Otto has a loaded revolver in one pocket, and I also in one of 
mine. I think it unnecessary, but it is the habit of the place 
now. 

To Secret art/ Root 

St. Petersburg, December 30, 1905. 
My dear Mr. Secretary, — 

Fighting has been going on in the streets of Moscow for 
a week. It has finally reached the guerilla stage. Barricades 
are quickly made every night by the revolutionists, and then 
snow and water poured over them, which freezes, and a red 
flag in each instance is stuck into the barrier. Under strict 
orders of the Revolutionary Committee, no one is allowed to 
remain behind them. When the soldiers come to destroy these 
barricades, half a dozen revolutionists fire at the officers from 
some adjoining house, and then escape by a prearranged plan. 
The soldiers attack the house and not infrequently shoot down 
and kill innocent people. This condition of affairs may drag 
on for several days, but from what advices I can obtain, the 
troops have remained loyal and the present revolution in Mos- 
cow will prove a failure. 

I have an acquaintance in St. Petersburg who is on very 
friendly terms with one of the leaders of the Union of Unions. 
He asked him what they expected to gain by their action in 
Moscow. He replied that their object was to capture Moscow, 
and set up a provisional government; that they expected some 
of the troops would come over to them ; this would attract 
others from all over the country and ensure the final overthrow 
of the Government. "And if you fail in Moscow.?" Then 




m 



1905] AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 239 

answered the revolutionist, " We will possibly make another 
attempt in KiefF, Harkoff, or Odessa; otherwise we shall resort 
to a form of terrorism greater in extent that has ever been 
attempted in Russia. The lives of twenty have been decided 
upon. First of all, the Tsar, and among the others is Witte." 

Two days ago in Moscow the house of the Chief of the 
Secret Police was entered by five men, who warned him that 
they were about to kill him and that he must take leave at once 
of his children. This privilege was alone allowed to him, and a 
few minutes later he was taken out into the court-yard and shot. 

The Jews have undoubtedly to a large extent furnished 
the brains and energy in the revolution throughout Russia. 
The students are generally revolutionists, and throughout the 
summer and autumn they have travelled and worked among the 
peasants in many parts of the country, showing them the injus- 
tices under which they were living and the remedies which should 
be applied by a constitutional assembly, promising also a great 
distribution of land. 

Baroness Huene, the daughter of the former American 
Minister Lothrop,^ who has lived here for over twenty years, 
and is the wife of a Russian who has an estate in the Baltic 
Provinces, informs me that they expect any day to hear of the 
burning of their property in Livonia, which means total loss to 
her husband. Seventy large estates, to her knowledge, have 
already been devastated and as many more have been burnt in 
Kurland, which means ruin to these families. 

Disturbances are so general throughout the Empire that 
it is not a matter of weeks, but months, and some even say years, 
before order can be restored and established. 

There are two factors yet to be reckoned with : one the 
returning troops from Manchuria, now arriving and quite de- 
moralized, and the other the Duma. There are those who seem 

1 Minister to Russia under Cleveland. 



240 GEORGE von L. MEYER ti905 

to consider that the Duma will be a panacea for all grievances. 
They appear to forget how difficult it is, and what time it 
requires, for the parliamentary body (which in this case has had 
no experience whatever) to agree on necessary legislation. To 
my mind the autocratic power of the Tsar, if he only knew how 
to use it and had the courage to do so, could be employed to 
great advantage at the present moment ; since by a mere stroke 
of the pen he could institute reforms and establish laws, with- 
out legislative delay, which the better element of the nation 
have been crying for for over a generation. As it is, nothing 
is actually done, mere promises given, which have so often later 
on been withdrawn, and in the history of Finland actually 
broken. The danger to-day is the weakness and incompetency 
of the Government. The extreme measures and excesses of the 
revolutionists may cause a terrible reaction to set in, which 
will result in much bloodshed and cruelty. 

For foreigners I do not anticipate any great danger as far 
as the revolutionists are concerned, for in no instance can I 
ascertain that they have attached or disturbed a consulate, or 
even killed a foreigner. The only risk is from the hooligans or 
irresponsible mob, which might take the opportunity, during 
tJie conflicts that are taking place between the revolutionists 
and the troops, to obtain plunder. . . . 

I do not seriously anticipate danger to life and property 
in St. Petersburg, as there are so many troops stationed here, 
and the Tsar and the Grand Dukes have so much at stake in 
this city that protection is apparently well-organized; but in 
Russia that does not mean all it should. It is possible that we 
may be cut off from all communication, as the revolutionists 
in the Baltic Provinces are gaining ground, and they threaten 
to blow up some of the railroad bridges between St. Petersburg 
and Eydtkuhnen (the Berlin route), but I believe it would soon 
be reopened. 



190G] AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 241 

It is a pity that the Emperor, instead of reviewing favour- 
ite regiments and shutting himself up in Tsarskoe Selo, twenty 
miles from St. Petersburg, as did also Louis XVI in Versailles, 
does not study the causes and results of the French Revolution 
of 1789 and profit by the events which are rapidly being re- 
peated in his own Empire. 

Believe me, my dear Mr. Secretary, 

Faithfully yours, 

Geoege v. L. Meyee. ' 



Were the primary object of this chapter to present 
a picture of Russian affairs during the period of 
Meyer's ambassadorship at St. Petersburg, the mate- 
rial to be found in his diary and letters would he 
ample for the purpose. It must be remembered, how- 
ever, that the year 1906 in Russia, despite its fore- 
shadowings of the tragedies of recent occurrence, held 
no single event of such importance to the world as the 
conclusion of the Russo-Japanese War in 1905; and 
also that this book is, first of all, a biography of 
George Meyer. For the year and a month of his 
further stay in St. Petersburg, therefore, a somewhat 
more rigorous selection must be made from his own 
record of what he saw and did. Even so, there is 
much to be told, if only because the Algeciras Confer- 
ence and the first meeting of the Russian Duma 
occurred in 1906. 

''January 1, 1906. — Very cold, and good sleigh- 
ing. The trees and shrubs are a wonderful sight, the 
snow having frozen on the branches and twigs. 

" St. Petersburg, as far as the eye is concerned. 



242 GEORGE von L. MEYER f^»^^ 

shows no signs on the streets of the disturbances and 
revolutions going on in the country, except for the 
beggars and hoohgans on the sidewalks. The Ameri- 
can Consul in Moscow telephoned to-day that the bar- 
ricades were being removed from the streets, shops are 
being opened again, and matters were getting into 
normal state, and that the Consulate had not been dis- 
turbed or molested; that where he lived, except for 
the sounds of the cannon, they would not have known 
that anything was going on. Rather different from 
what the papers were describing. 

" January 3. — Called on Count Lamsdorff at the 
Foreign Office. It was his day for receiving the Dip- 
lomatic Corps. The ministers of Roumania and Bel- 
gium were in the room and Mr. Lovenoon ^ just com- 
ing out from seeing Lamsdorff as I entered, so that I 
was able to go right in. 

" He told me that they had had no communications 
with General Linevich for weeks; that even a telegram 
signed by the Tsar himself the strikers had not allowed 
to be forwarded to Vladivostok. Imagine last year 
such an acknowledgment being made. He also de- 
nied the rumour that Dournovo would be made Prime 
Minister in place of Witte. Lamsdorff seemed to 
think that the worst is now over, but I cannot agree 
with him in this respect. 

" Send a pouch off by the English courier. It is 
rather remarkable that John Quincy Adams, writing 
from here to the State Department in January, 1810, 
refers to the disturbances of the communications be- 

1 The Danish Minister, 



1906] AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 243 

tween here and other parts of the world, so that he 
fears his letters would be received very irregularly. I 
quote it in my dispatch to Mr. Root, Secretary of 
State, as it is so applicable to the present time. 

" January 9. — Send a confidential cable to the 
State Department. In the absence of the French Am- 
bassador, their Minister [Charge?'] sent word to Witte, 
that while the French Government had, or knew, the 
instructions to the delegates ^ from England, America, 
Spain, Italy, and Russia, they did not know those of 
Germany and Austria. They now wanted not only 
the moral support of Russia, in case Germany by ex- 
cessive demands might cause the failure of the Con- 
ference, but they wished for the Tsar as friend to 
friend to urge the Kaiser [against] asking for such 
things as would be unreasonable. France realized that 
they could not expect anything from Russia's army at 
this time, but feared Germany might take advantage 
of these circumstances. I added to my cable that the 
President, of all people under certain circumstances, 
might have the greatest moral effect and influence with 
both Germany and France in this Conference. 

'' January 10. — Dine at Baroness Ramsay's, din- 
ner given for Sir Charles Hardinge, who presented 
his letters of recall to the Emperor to-day at Tsarskoe 
Selo. Sir Charles told me that he spoke to the Tsar 
about the Morocco Conference and said to him that, 
notwithstanding the improved relations between Eng- 
land and Germany and the latter 's advances, England 
would remain in the Conference loyal to France and 

iTo the Algeciras Conference, 



244 GEORGE von L. MEYER t^^oe 

would stand by her agreement. The Tsar expressed 
gratification at this," 

To Mrs. Meyer 

' St. Petersburg, January 15, I9O6. 

. . . Yesterday was the first of January, Russian, and 
the Emperor and Empress received the Diplomatic Corps in 
the Alexandra Palace at Tsarskoe Selo. We aU left St. Peters- 
burg at half-past two, in a royal train which ran over the Em- 
peror's special road to Tsarskoe. Six Ambassadors were pres- 
ent — those absent were the English and Austrian. On account 
of the changes the order of precedence was as follows : Turkey, 
France, Italy, America, Spain, Germany, with Austria and 
England at the foot of the line, after the Ministers, as only 
Charges were in charge. At half-past three, after the Master 
of Ceremonies had arranged us in a circle, very much as was 
done in Italy, the doors were thrown open and the royal house- 
hold marched in, with Count Benckendorff and Baron Korff 
leading, the Empress being followed by four young maids of 
honour, none of whom had any pretensions to looks, with the 
exception of the young Princess Dolgorouky. 

The Emperor, when it came my turn, was most cordial, 
remarking that it was some time since he had seen me. He 
asked after you, and I told him that it was Julia's illness, and 
not fear, which had kept the family from coming here. He then 
asked me if I hadn't found things quite different from what the 
newspapers had led me to believe, saying that he thought things 
looked better and that the worst was over. I expressed the 
wish that 1906 might prove advantageous to Russia in solving 
the many problems which were before the country. He thanked 
me for my expressions and said that he should never forget 
what my President had done, and repeated it later on very 
emphatically, showing that he meant it. I presented Captain 



19061 AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 245 

Roy Smith, the Naval Attache, and he immediately asked about 
our fleet, which had just arrived at the Mediterranean, saying: 
" I suppose you are sending vessels into warmer waters during 
the winter, as we do " ; and then corrected himself : " as we used 
to when we had a fleet." It was almost pathetic. . . . As he 
took leave, the Emperor again shook hands and thanked me 
for my expressions of good wishes. 

His Majesty had hardly left when the Empress advanced, 
and I bowed low and saluted her hand. She had a much more 
attractive expression this time than when I first met her last 
year in April. She immediately asked after you and the girls, 
and was shocked to hear of Julia's operation and expressed 
great interest in it, speaking of it [appendicitis] as one of the 
terrible new diseases. She was glad also to hear that you were 
all coming in the spring. I took the occasion to express the 
hope that the Tsarevich was in good health, and she said that 
he merely had a cold and occasional coughs that babies are apt 
to have, but that she personally was very glad that they were 
staying at Tsarskoe, as it is so much healthier for the children. 
She informed me that he could not speak yet, but understood 
everything; and related how she had taken him to the review 
of one of the regiments and that he had shown the greatest 
interest and excitement. I suggested that he would soon be 
acknowledging in the military way the salutes. The whole con- 
versation reminded me very much of talks on similar occasions 
with the Queen of Italy. After a few minutes more of general 
conversation, I presented the different members of the Embassy 
in turn, but she only granted them the permission of kissing 
her hand and said nothing. 

The incident with the Ambassador of , who was next 

to me, was very amusing. It is extremely difficult for anybody 
to understand him — he has a neck like a bull, from which the 
words never are entirely articulated. In addition to that, he 



246 GEORGE von L. MEYER t^»^^ 

is about knee-high to a grass-hopper. It had one advantage 
that, when the Empress gave him her hand, he was able to 
salute it without leaning over. He at once, after making the 
proper salutations, immediately, evidently, commenced the his- 
tory of his life. The Empress looked puzzled and his First 
Secretary looked wild. Still the account went on. Three times,^ 
the Empress tried to break away, but it was no use. His head 
was up in the air and each time he failed to see the proffered 
hand. Finally, while he was catching his breath, she raised 
her hand and moved away, and the incident became closed. She 
merely bowed to the First Secretary, evidently being afraid to 

approach another , and moved off to Germany, where 

stood the new Ambassador, von Schoen. 

The whole reception lasted about two hours, and was 
without any further marked incident. I only had time to get 
back to St. Petersburg, change my clothes and return to 
Tsarskoe Sclo to dine with the Grand Duke Vladimir again. 
Count and Countess Bcnckcndorff were there, as well as Hohen- 
lohe and the members of the household. 

To President Roosevelt 

St. Petersburg, January 15, I906. 
My dear, Mr. President, — 

I cabled the Department last week concerning the nervous- 
ness of the French Embassy here as to the probable demands of 
the German Emperor at the Morocco Conference. The nervous- 
ness must be contagious, because even Sir Charles Hardinge, 
who has presented his letters of recall, and Spring-Rice, have 
also become worked up. It is quite true that France has left 
no stone unturned to impress Russia and the Tsar with the 
importance of using every influence to urge the Emperor 
William not to precipitate a crisis at Algeciras. In talking, 
within the last two days, with Prince Fiirstenberg, an intimate 



1906] AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 247 

friend of the German Emperor, he assured me that it was his 
belief that the German demands would not be excessive and 
this talk of war was uncalled for. Schoen, the new Ambassador, 
who has lately come from Berlin, confirmed this impression. I 
see also that von Biilow and von Radowitz have each come out 
publicly with a statement, on the 12th of January, to the effect 
that neither His Majesty the Kaiser, nor anybody else in Ger- 
many, dreams of exercising the slightest pressure upon France 
at the expense of French national dignity. The question, to my 
mind, that may cause some debate is the question of policing. 
Should matters unexpectedly get strained, I am satisfied that 
you, of all people, could have the greatest moral influence with 
the Emperor and with the French Republic. 

Yesterday being the Russian 1st of January, the Tsar 
and the Tsarina received the Diplomatic Corps at the Alex- 
andra Palace in Tsarskoe Selo. The Emperor appeared in ex- 
cellent health, notwithstanding what he has been through with 
regard to the war and internal aff*airs. No matter how black 
the aspect may look or how badly things are mismanaged, he 
has a sublime faith in God and his people, not at all appre- 
ciating that God prefers to help those who try to help them- 
selves. During his conversation with me, which was very cordial, 
he said that on our New Year's day he had received a very nice 
cable from you, which he appreciated, and added : " I shall never 
forget all your President has done," and later repeated it with 
emphasis and impressed me that he really meant it and felt it. 

By the same courier I am writing a letter to Mr. Root, 
posting him as to the present conditions, etc. 

Believe me, my dear Mr. President, 

* Respectfully yours, 

' Geokge v. L. MeyeeJ 






248 GEORGE von L. MEYER t^^oe 

To Mrs. Meyer 

St. Petersburg, January 19, 1906. 

I got off our courier with the pouch last Monday evening. 
I had managed to get half an hour's exercise in the morning 
skating on the Fontanka with the Princess Fiirstenberg, and 
when I got home found a telegram from Princess Olga Orloff 
asking me to dine there, Tsarskoe Selo, Tuesday night. This 
I was unable to accept, because I had planned to go off that 
afternoon bear-hunting. I left by the three o'clock train for 
Moscow, and got off at a station about four hours outside of 
Petersburg. There I found a couple of sleighs waiting for me 
in order to take Otto^ and myself to the village where I was to 
pass the night. The sleighs were nothing but rough peasant 
sleighs with hay thrown in the bottom. The horses are rigged 
up like a tandem, but the leader is guided only by the voice and 
the whip. We started at half-past seven at night, I well 
wrapped up in my Russian fur coat and a fur rug over my feet, 
which were enveloped primarily with three pairs of stockings 
and long felt boots. It was a most beautiful drive, not 
excessively cold, and the distance we had to cover was 35 versts, 
or about 25 English miles. We drove across steppes and again 
through forests, with some of the tallest trees in them that I 
have ever seen. The spruces looked as though they were pow- 
dered with sugar, and there being no wind, the beeches and 
ashes looked as though they had baskets of snow and white 
balls attached to them. A little before midnight we reached our 
destination, which was a small Dorf consisting of half a dozen 
houses. I was afraid to sleep on the bed, as the peasants are 
supposed not to change their shirts until they are ready to drop 
to pieces ; so I had some hay brought in and thrown on the 
floor, which I covered with my fur rug and wrapped myself up 
in my fur coat, which comes to the ground. 

1 His chasseur. 



j:906] ambassador TO RUSSIA 249 

Next morning we started off for the woods where the bear 
was supposed to be located. Fortunately I had hunted and 
shot sanglier, as you know, with the King of Italy, and I soon 
recognized that the drive and beat of the beaters was a fake 
one, so I sent for the head man and the Jager and rated them 
roundly through Otto as an interpreter, telling them that I 
was satisfied that there was no bear in those woods, and saying 
I intended to return. They finally, seeing I was determined, 
acknowledged that the owner had deceived them. It was a put- 
up job in order to get me to put out money. 

When we got back to our sleigh, the beaters, who had 
consisted of forty men and about as many women, got very 
excited and evidently used threatening language to Otto, because 
they were not satisfied with the pay that the Jager said was 
coming to them, and I could see that Otto was nervous. It is 
singular how indifferent one feels when one has a loaded pistol 
in each pocket and a rifle in one's lap. They saw that I did 
not appear disturbed and merely smiled, and finally some of 
them began to smile, and so I told Otto to pay them the differ- 
ence, which was merely ten roubles, the full amount being forty 
in place of thirty, to be distributed among eighty people. 

Otto then got into his sleigh and our drivers cracked 
their whips and we were off for 35 versts more, to look for 
another bear. I noticed my driver looked around several times 
to see if we were followed, but nothing of the sort occurred. 
This time I was sure of finding a bear, because I had taken 
the precaution, having been warned by Count Nerod, to send 
Otto (the week before) to ascertain if it was a fact that the 
bear had been located. Count Nerod tells me that this trick 
has been played before, even on Russians. I only made the 
first attempt wishing to avoid a drive of 70 versts across 
country. 

Our journey led us through some wonderful forest roads. 



250 GEORGE yon L. MEYER ^^^^^ 

Avhich appccircd in winter like private avenues, and we at last 
reached our destination at five o'clock, pitch dark. It was 
necessary for me to kill the time in a primitive peasant's log 
cabin until seven o'clock next morning. The chef had only 
put up in a basket what he called enough food for one day. It 
consisted of a quail, a chicken, four rolls, a small piece of choco- 
late, and a tumbler of apple-sauce. I divided it up so that it 
was quite sufficient. The food that the peasants eat would 
be impossible to taste even, and they don't even always have 
sufficient. I again slept on the floor and was disturbed in the 
night by feeling what I think was a rat under me, and got up 
and tried to sleep on three chairs, but finally went back to the 
hay, rat or no rat. Otto came in and called me at what I sup- 
posed was the middle of the night, but it turned out to be 
seven a.m. 

At a quarter of eight, after a frugal breakfast, we were 
ofT again, driving down a steep forest hill which I did not know 
existed in this part of Russia. The " drive " was again arranged, 
and this time it was evident that it was a genuine thing. Finally 
I could hear the bear coming along, but could not see him on 
account of the dense wood. He suddenly broke through the 
trees right beside the son of the Jager, who turned as white as 
the snow from fear. I hesitated a moment before shooting, as 
the bear was practically beside the boy. I fired an instant after 
and the bear dropped within, I should think, three feet of the 
boy. I rushed forward, but fell in a hole, and as I was getting 
up the bear got up and made away, much to the relief, evi- 
dently, of the boy. As he disappeared I fired again and 
wounded him for a second time. I then endeavoured to follow 
his tracks, which were marked with blood and showed he was 
going on three legs. The Jager said that he would not be able 
to go far, and as it was almost impossible to get through the 
woods, I retraced my steps, and then shot two young bears 



1906} AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 251 

about the size of Newfoundland dogs, which were good-sized 
cubs belonging to the she-bear I had wounded. I left instruc- 
tions to forward the big bear to St. Petersburg, as it was sure 
that she would die and would be unable to get any distance with 
two rifle holes through her, one near the front shoulder and 
one in the back. We had a long drive of seventy versts before 
us, and it took us from ^en o'clock in the morning until six in 
the evening, when I just caught the train to St. Petersburg, 
having been away two days. 

lDiary'\ 

** January 19. — Courier arrives from Berlin with 
letters from the family, the State Department, and 
Lodge. He said the President was talking with him 
as to whom to send in my place when I entered his 
Cabinet ! 

" I wrote Lodge that of events outside of St. P., 
they knew them through the press in Washington 24 
to 48 hours before we did here, due to the interrupted 
post and telegraph connections and the suppression 
of the press; that in no case had any Consulate been 
disturbed in any city, and that these disturbances were 
not directed against foreigners, or the Diplomatic 
Corps as in Pekin, but were for reforms or even a 
republic, and that a diplomat could only look on. If 
I were fighting for my country or endeavouring to 
carry out some poHcy, I should feel compensated for 
being separated from my family. ..." 

" January 2A. — A party of us go to Yukki for 
lunch and skiing. We have taken a small house and 
made a sort of Club out of it. They have made me 



252 GEORGE von L. MEYER f^»^^ 

the president and Csekonics secretary. It is about 
half an hour on the railroad to Finland, and then 
another half over in sleighs. We all took lunch with 
us. It is quite difficult going down the steep hills, and 
then most tiresome climbing up again. The women 
and men had some amusing falls, but one is especially- 
dressed for it, with felt shoes and leather breeches 
and jacket. The party consisted of the Ramsays, 
Belosselsky, Hohenlohe, Schoen, Aguera, Wrangel, 
etc. 

" An extraordinary plot was discovered in Mos- 
cow. The daughter of the late General Count Keller 
and niece of Countess Kleinmichel, my landlady, 
was discovered, in the house of a nobleman named 
Oznobishin, to be in possession of several bombs of 
great explosive power and infernal machines. In a 
muff was found a paper planning to kill Governor 
General Dubassoff, the Police Prefet and the City 
Governor, and their houses were to be blown up at 
the same time by infernal machines. There were to 
be in addition six bomb-throwers. It turns out that 
the lady is not the daughter of General Keller. 

'' January 30. — Have my audience at 3 o'clock 
with the Grand Duke Constantine, and later with the 
Duchess in the Marble Palace. The Grand Duke said 
my name was very German, and that he had met one 
of my relatives in one of the courts of Germany 
where he was the Master of Ceremonies. He also 
spoke of his trip to America with the Grand Duke 
Alexis in a naval vessel, and that he had enjoyed it 
very much. I spoke of his translation of Shakespeare 



i906] AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 253 

into Russian, and he told me that it had taken him 
twelve years. The Grand Duchess asked all about the 
education of girls and boys in America, and [said] 
how she regretted the lack of exercise and outdoor 
sports for children here. She was most agreeable and 
struck me as very un-Russian. 

" January 31. — Paid my respects yesterday after- 
noon to Lovenorn, the Danish Minister, on account of 
the death of the King of Denmark.^ In my interview 
with Lamsdorff, he said that he was very glad for the 
Empress [Dowager] that she had decided to remain 
through January in Denmark, as it would always have 
been a matter of remorse to her if she had not been 
with her father, the King, during his last moments, 
and then added what an ideal death it was. About an 
hour before death he had felt weary so that they put 
him to bed, and a little later he expired without any 
pain. 

" I also requested Lamsdorff to see if he could not 
find out if the Japanese prisoners had been returned, 
and the plans of the mines in eastern waters, now that 
communications had been opened with Linevich and 
Vladivostok. 

" The Minister of Foreign Affairs told me that 
mourning for the Court here had been prescribed for 
three months on account of King Christian being the 
Grandfather of the Emperor. If he had been no blood 
relation, it would have been one month. I told him 
of my experiences bear-shooting, and he said formerly 
he had very good shooting within 60 versts of St. P.; 

1 Christian IX, died January 29. 



254 GEORGE von L. MEYER C^^off 

if he only had them now, he would have offered them 
to me — for which I thanked him." 

To Ms Daughter Julia 

St. Petersburg, February 13, I9O6. 

. . . Quite a number of people have taken to skating 
every morning on the Fontanka. We do fancy skating and 
waltzing. The young Countess Bcnckendorff, daughter of the 
Russian Ambassador to London, and Baroness Ramsay are 
exceptionally good. Last Sunday we all went out to Yukki, 
spent the day and lunched in our little datcha. Everybody 
brings something for lunch, and the things taste exceptionally 
good after skiing and climbing up the hill. 

In the evening I went to an official dinner at the Austrian 
Embassy, given for Schoen, the new German Ambassador. I 
met a number of Russian officials, some of them very agreeable 
and interesting. One interested me exceedingly, as after dinner, 
having grown a little mellow from the numerous wines that were 
served, his tongue became untied and he showed how the Rus- 
sians really feel about the war. He said war never would have 
taken place but for England and America, and that Witte 
should never have given up half of Sakhaline ! Whether he 
really knew that that was settled by the Tsar and myself, I 
don't know, but in his entire talk he was neither rude nor 
offensive. It interested me very much to get his real impression 
and feeling upon the subject, because it is the first direct case 
that I have experienced. When I said to him, " Of course the 
world realizes that Japan would never have dared to declare 
war but for her alliance with England, but in what way did 
America assist Japan?" "Oh," he said, "with money, ships, 
and urging her on." When I called his attention to the fact 
that that was never done officially by the government, but by the 
independent press of America, influenced by the fact that 



1906] AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 255 

Cassini would never state that Russia would ensure the open 
door in Manchuria, his answer to it all was that Cassini was a 
fool, and that the press had undoubtedly been influenced by the 
Jews, who were always acting in whatever they thought would 
be best for their moneyed interests. The Russian always puts 
the blame on some one else, and never learns by experience. 

To Senator Lodge 

St. Petersburg^ February 14, 1906. 
Dear Cabot, — 

. . . Russia now is beginning to get very nervous over 
the Morocco Conference, because on that outcome a great deal 
depends as to their getting a further credit and increased loans 
both in Paris and Berlin. Schoen, the German Ambassador, 
the other day told me that they would not be satisfied to allow 
France and Spain to do the policing jointly. With the open 
door and the bank question settled, it was a matter of indiffer- 
ence to Germany if everything else remained in statu quo. 

All the Ambassadors here get copies of the correspondence 
that is going on with their governments as to this question, and 
in other important questions, but the American Ambassador is 
kept in blissful ignorance. This I do not say in criticism of 
Mr. Root, as I have the greatest respect and admiration for his 
ability.^ Heretofore, when we were not a world-power, it was 
of no great importance whether our representatives were kept 
au courant or not, as they only had to look after any matter 
which might refer to their own country; but in the future, if 
they are to hold a dignified position in the eyes of their col- 
leagues, the system of keeping our representatives informed will 
have to conform to some extent with those of the other great 
powers. I talked this matter over with Mr. Root, and he agreed 
with me and fully appreciated it ; but I imagine that with all 
that is going on at home, it has been impossible for him as yet 



256 GEORGE VON L. MEYER f^^^^ 

to change the old methods which he found In vogue in the State 
Department. 

I read your speech made in the Senate in defense of the 
President and the San Domingo Treaty, as well as the Morocco 
Conference, with a great deal of interest and pride. To my 
mind your argument was unanswerable. I was also very glad to 
learn from you that there is no real friction between the Senate 
and the President. From the accounts in the Paris New York 
Herald, you would think they were at daggers drawn. 

Spring-Rice lunched with me to-day and he seems almost 
alarmed over the Morocco question. He fears that Germany 
may irritate France so that public sentiment may get so 
aroused that it will force her into attacking Germany. I take, 
personally, a less alarming view of the situation, because I 
think Germany at heart does not really want war, and that no 
nation will go blindly into attacking another in these days, 
after England's experience with the Boers and Russia's unfor- 
tunate results with Japan. The expense is so overwhelming 
and the drains so terrible on any country now, no matter how 
great its resources may be. There is no doubt that Germany 
is taking advantage of Russia's weakness and Austria's internal 
troubles in order to force France's hand. While Rouvier re- 
mains Premier, I think France will steer clear of any actual 
combat. 

The meeting of the Duma is now being talked of as pos- 
sibly taking place early in May, but Russians hate to work in 
summer most of all, therefore people think that, if it does m£et, 
it will only organize and adjourn at once until the autumn. 

Agrarian troubles continue in different parts of Russia 
and land-owners are much discouraged over the situation, be- 
cause it is not known yet whether or not the peasants will con- 
sent to till the soil without a further distribution of land. 
Business is at a stand-still, manufacturing companies are work- 



1906] AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 257 

ing their mills with about 20 to 40 per cent of the usual number 
of workmen. All the prisons arc said to be full and revolu- 
tionists are being sent to Siberia. The City of St. Petersburg 
remains apparently tranquil, and little or no news gets into the 
papers, as the censorship is nearly as severe, in some respects, 
as in former times. There is a rumour that Russia has a secret 
treaty with China as regards parts of Turkestan, granting her 
large concessions, but I have not been able to get it actually 
corroborated. I have turned over the effects of the Japanese 
Legation to the Third Secretary who has arrived here, and the 
Minister is to follow him early in March. This relieves us of a 
great deal of work. 



\_Diary'\ 

'' February 16. — Call on Madame Witte with the 
Austrian Ambassador, Baron d'Aehrenthal. They are 
living in an end of the Winter Palace. She was never 
received at Court until last autumn. He was made a 
Count and became Premier. She is, I believe, over 
50, but has considerable charm of manner and is more 
like a French woman than a Russian in her manner 
of speaking and moving her hands. She appeared to- 
day extremely well and talked most agreeably and 
with much spirit. She referred to the newspapers, 
hew they exaggerated and put all sorts of things in 
the paper. She was originally a Jewess and she re- 
lated an anecdote which seemed to amuse her as well 
as us. A certain Princess called on her the other day 
and asked if it was true that she had turned orthodox. 
Madame Witte replied, ' Yes.' ' I suppose it was for 
I political reasons.' * Yes.' And the old Princess went 



258 GEORGE von L. MEYER ^^^^6 

off satisfied. As a matter of fact, Madame Witte in- 
formed us that she had become orthodox twenty-four 
years ago, after she had married her first husband." 

To Judge Francis C. Lowell 

St. Petersburg, February 19, 1906. 
My dear Frank, — 

Your interesting letter of January 22nd duly received. 
Moran ^ must be a thorn in the Governor's side, but I think he 
will turn out merely to be the comet of the season. 

The copy of the Atlantic Monthly ^ reached me about a day 
after your letter, and I read your article with a great deal of 
pleasure. I quite agree with your conclusion, but would add 
even still another reason, that if we had men in the service per- 
manently, many of them would become un-American, due to 
the modes and habits of life being so absolutely different from 
ours. Our diplomats would also get out of touch with American 
ideas and sentiment, as we progress so much more rapidly at 
home, and our objects and aims in life are so very different. 
The English of late years have been adopting a system of 
appointing ambassadors occasionally from the Foreign Office, 
and then again, at other times, taking secretaries and recalling 
them to do active service in the Foreign Office in London. This 
system has many advantages, as it has men in the Foreign Office 
thoroughly familiar with the customs and habits of the foreign 
courts, and cabinets. In your grouping of prominent American 
diplomats you placed Andrew D. White in a class, to my mind, 
far above his attainments, as I have always considered him a 
much over-estimated man and without much tact. I think he 
showed very bad taste in publishing his memoirs and making 

1 John B. Moran, District Attorney at Boston. 

2 For January, 1906, containing an article on " American Diplomacy " 
by Judge Lowell. 



1906} AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 259 

personal criticisms within a few years after he had resigned 
from the service. It is contrary to all regulations and custom, 
and sometimes makes it embarrassing to his successors. I do 
not think they should have been published until at least after his 
death, or a proper time had elapsed. . . . Many of the 
things which he describes and relates about Russia are incorrect, 
as I have found from personal observation and experience. His 
articles on Berlin and Germany, were, however, excellent, and 
showed a familiar and correct knowledge of what he was 
describing. 

I was quite amused at your referring to my abode as a 
palace. The house is about the size of the Fred Ames house in 
Boston. I have an apartment up one flight, with a Russian 
family living underneath me and two above me. I remember 
seeing a photograph in one of the American papers of one of 
the ducal palaces; underneath it was written, "The Palace of 
the American Ambassador." Hence I suppose the idea which has 
got abroad of my supposed palatial residence. This is on a 
par with many of the misrepresentations and exaggerations 
sent out from Russia ! 

To his Daughter Alice 

St. Petersburg, February 20, 1906. 

I got your letter last week and was delighted to see that 
you had been enjoying yourself. You must have made some 
progress also in skating this winter. I myself skate regularly 
every morning, and have got quite a number of people to take 
it up also. 

Sunday the Chefs de Mission of the Diplomatic Corps 
were invited to attend the requiem held in the private chapel of 
the Great Palace at Tsarskoe Selo. We left on a special train 
at 11.10, arriving in Tsarskoe at a quarter to twelve. At the 
station were a great number of royal carriages, one of which 



I 



260 GEORGE von L. MEYER t^^oe 

was assigned to each Ambassador, but only one to every two 
Ministers. In the ante-chamber of the palace, adjoining the 
chapel, all the dignitaries and officers attached to the Emperor 
and to the Grand Duke were assembled, waiting our arrival and 
that of the royal family. It was a very brilliant sight, for 
they were all in uniform, wearing every decoration that they 
possessed. We marched through the hall to the chapel. There 
are no seats or chairs, and we were assigned to one side with 
a few of the highest officials at the end. 

At twelve o'clock the Master of Ceremonies rapped his 
cane on the floor three times and the doors at the end of the 
hall were thrown open, and the Emperor and Empress entered, 
followed by the Grand Duchess Pierre Nicolaievitch, sister of the 
Queen of Italy, and the Duchess of Leuchtenberg, also her sister. 
After them followed the Grand Duke Vladimir, Nicolas Nicolaie- 
vitch, Pierre Nicolaievitch, Nicolas Michailovitch, George 
Michailovitch, and the Duke of Leuchtenberg. They assembled 
on the other side of the chapel, opposite to the Ambassadors. 

The Empress was all in black and looked very handsome, 
as it becomes her more than any color. The Emperor, however, 
I did not think looked as well as when I saw him a month ago. 
The chapel is in bright blue and gold, rococo style, a decoration 
which I do not at all care for. The service was conducted by 
six high priests in rich robes and caps resembling cardinals' 
hats. The service was all chanted, assisted by a choir of men 
and boys, beautifully trained, and greatly superior to any 
church music that I heard while in Rome. The service lasted 
about half an hour. In the middle of it, candles were handed 
round to each one of us, being lighted from that of the priest, 
and we held them until the end of the service. You cannot 
imagine what a strange sight it was, with the little Chinaman 
holding a lighted taper and looking as though he was wondering 
what it all meant. 



1906] AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 261 

It was a most brilliant and impressive sight and one long 
to be remembered. At the end of the service the Emperor and 
Empress marched out, followed by the Grand Dukes and Duch- 
esses. We followed a moment afterwards and assembled in one 
of the large banquet halls on the floor above, where a breakfast 
was served at which the Princess Galitzine and Baron KorfF, 
Acting Master of Ceremonies, presided. There were twenty- 
eight Chefs de Mission, so that we sat down thirty at table, in 
the form of a horse-shoe. On the right and left of the Princess 
Galitzine, were the Turkish and Austrian Ambassadors; I sat 
on the right of the latter, and next beyond me was the German 
Ambassador. Baron Korff sat opposite the Princess, with the 
French and Italian Ambassadors on each side of him. The 
breakfast was, sensibly, a short one and excellently served. 
After a short talk, during which the Princess asked after Ma 
and you and Julia and when you would be back, we returned 
to the station, reaching Petersburg about half-past three. It 
was a wonderful bright, sunny day, such as we have in New- 
England. 

I sleighed out in the afternoon to Krestovsky to see the 
Belosselskys, and after that returned to St. Petersburg and 
called on the Princess Troubetzkoy. She was leaving the next 
day for Moscow to meet her husband, who has been in the war 
and whom she has not seen for over a year. She is considered 
by some the handsomest woman in St. Petersburg. She was a 
Princess Dolgorouky — I don't think you met her when you 
were here. 

I can't tell you how much we all enjoy our little club at 
Yukki, where we try to go twice a week. It is real work and 
exercise climbing up the hills after one has skiied down rapidly, 
and as the darky said, it does one " a power of good." 

To-night the Belosselskys are going to dine with me 
informally, only Hohenlohe and Bliss, and to-morrow night I am 



I 



262 GEORGE von L. MEYER ^^^^6 

giving a dinner to the Grand Duke Vladimir, chez moi, with 
zakuskis galore before dinner. 

I wish you were all here with me and am looking forward 
to seeing you again in May. ' 

[Diary'} 

" February 24. — Meet the Austrian Ambassador 
on the Quay, and get out of sleigh to join him; he 
informs me confidentially that his Foreign Office has 
communicated to the Foreign Office in Berhn, offering 
their friendly offices to bring about an understanding 
on the two disputed points at the Algeciras Conference 
between France and Germany — but with no results 
as yet. D'Aehrenthal seemed to think that the outlook 
was discouraging. I claimed that the Tsar was in a 
position to approach the Emperor personally as no 
other person could. It was the Emperor's amour 
propre which had to be considered. 

" Later called at the German Embassy, on Schoen, 
nominally to talk about the claim of a German firm in 
Odessa in which one of the partners was an American 
citizen (naturalized) and owned 10 per cent interest. 
We agreed to act together in the matter. Then, in 
referring to the Morocco Conference, he spoke of 
French nervousness, and added that they try to make 
out that it has become a personal matter of the Em- 
peror's, which is not so. Germany was placing it on 
international grounds and broad principles. I send a 
cable to the State Department about the Austrian For- 
eign Office making offer to the German Foreign Office 
to intercede, and that there was a possibility that the 



1906] AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 263 

Tsar might cable personally to the German Emperor, 
as Russia was disturbed over the aspect of the 
Morocco Conference. 

"" February 26. — Ukase has been published to-day 
saying that the Duma will meet on May 10. 

" Lunch with the Austrian Ambassador, d'Aehren- 
thal, and afterwards we call on the French Ambassador 
personally and together. 

" D'Aehrenthal thought that we might get the lat- 
est news of the Morocco Conference, but Bompard 
told us that he received nothing to-day as yet. He 
said France had made concessions; that she no sooner 
does this than Germany makes some new demands; 
that she was now trying to make the Bank an inter- 
national one and would not accept French and Spanish 
officers to regulate the police of the ports, which was 
necessary for the safety of foreigners. France would 
make no more concessions. The whole trouble was 
that the Emperor of Germany had personally taken 
such a prominent part in this entire question that his 
amour propre was at stake and everything depended 
upon him personally now." 

To President Roosevelt 

' St. Petersburg, March 1, 1906. 
My dear Mr. President, — 

Thanks for your letter of February 1. I can well appre- 
ciate, even at this distance, that you are " having difficulties of 
your own," and McKinley well expressed it when he said " Gov- 
ernment is always a crisis." No one knows that better than 
the Tsar. 



264 GEORGE von L. MEYER t^^^^ 

The feeling at the Foreign Office and among the leading 
diplomats here is that if the Morocco Conference comes to a 
dead-lock, you are the man to be the arbiter. Count Bencken- 
dorif, Russian Ambassador at London, called on me last Sun- 
day afternoon. He discussed the Algeciras Conference and said 
that they were worried over the outlook, asking what could be 
done. This gave me the opportunity to say to him that his 
Emperor was the man, on account of the relationship existing 
between him and his brother-Emperor; that he had a special 
private code which permitted him to personally advise and urge 
the German Emperor, privately, to lessen his demands or leave 
them to arbitration. " Yes," replied the Ambassador, " but we 
must consider what his answer might be." But that objection 
Benckendorff was obliged to withdraw when I called to his 
attention that the German Emperor did not stop to consider 
that when he advised the Tsar to make peace. The Count then 
asked me if my President would consent to act as arbiter, add- 
ing, " All the world respects him, and it is well known that the 
German Emperor admires him." I assured Benckendorff that 
I could not answer that either officially or even unofficially. I 
suspected that he had been sent to me by the Foreign Office, 
and found out afterwards, on pretty good authority, that my 
inference was correct. 

Of course the Russians did not go ahead in the right way. 
Instead of letting the Emperor act quietly on his own volition, 
LamsdorflP, being afraid that the German Emperor might not 
accept his Emperor's suggestion, made advances through their 
Ambassador in Berlin, and von Biilow, it is said, turned him 
down. 

Russia is especially concerned, for the reason that they 
are in great need of a large loan, and without a satisfactory 
termination of the Algeciras Conference it will be impossible to 



19061 AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 265 

float one in Paris and Berlin, and it may mean an inflation of 
paper currency and a departure from the gold basis. 

I have been much impressed with the investigations of 
the insurance companies in New York and the amount of money 
that individuals have had at their disposal. 

One of the great questions in coming presidential elec- 
tions is the campaign fund, and yet it is a necessity with our 
eighty millions of inhabitants and our ever-increasing number 
of naturalized citizens. They enjoy the privilege of voting, 
and a campaign of education, as it were, should be carried on 
at each presidential election. I wish you would consider the 
advisability and possibility of recommending a million dollars 
being appropriated by Congress for each presidential election, 
to be divided between the parties. This would be much more 
democratic and would stop the cry of the populace that cor- 
porations are controlling elections by their subscriptions to 
the campaign fund. The act could so be drawn as to impose a 
severe fine on any individual soliciting campaign subscriptions 
from any corporation, and the same fine on the corporation 
making the subscription. It would permit the two parties to 
start the campaign on an equal footing; and after the election 
a detailed statement of expenses should be furnished to the 
proper authorities. This may appear Utopian, but possibly 
you can thrash something practical out of it, as I believe it is 
the psychological moment for such a reform. 
' Respectfully yours, 

George v. L. Meyee. 



\_Diary'\ 

"March 9. — It looks better to-day for a final 
arrangement of the Morocco situation. Now that Ger- 
many has had a favourable vote in the Reichstag for 



266 GEORGE von E. MEYER t^^^^ 

six new battleships and five armoured cruisers, she 
will probably be more willing to meet French views if 
France makes some concessions as to the bank. 

" The Japanese Minister, Motono, recently ap- 
pointed, arrives from Paris, where he has been Min- 
ister. I sent Bliss, Second Secretary, to the station to 
meet him. He reported him as a small man, speaks 
French like a Parisian. Expressed his appreciation of 
all the Embassy had done. 

" March 15. — Go over the Imperial stables in 
order to see the horses, with Baron Huene. There are 
about 500 in all, counting those at Tsarskoe Selo also. 
Some of the Arabs and stallions are very fine, but as 
coach horses for state carriages they were not equal 
to the Eling of Italy's. 

" Lunch with the Huenes, and after a heavy meal 
go back to the stables in order to see the carriages, 
harnesses, etc. I left at 4 o'clock, quite tired out. 
There was a strong smell of ammonia. The Russians 
are afraid of ventilation and have not studied drainage. 

"March 17. — Maurice Baring lunches with me. 
He was at Moscow through all the troubles and revo- 
lution. The real leaders had not intended that it 
should start at that time, but it got beyond them and 
broke out without being properly organized. The 
movement counted on the troops in Moscow joining, 
at least to some extent. In this they were disap- 
pointed, and [that] was the cause of the failure of the 
movement. 

" Regarding the present elections for the Duma, at 
Moscow the labourers were showing very little inter- 



19061 AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 267 

est; the peasant member had been arrested by the 
police and thrown into prison because he had made a 
very sensible speech which created some enthusiasm, 
and therefore the police considered that he was dan- 
gerous! The power which the police have while at- 
tending elections is bound to be outrageously abused. 

^' March 18. — Dinner given by Count Lamsdorif 
at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It was supposed 
to be in honour of the Japanese Minister, but Bompard 
sat on Lamsdorff's right and I on his left; opposite 
Lamsdorff was Prince Obolensky, who, I have always 
felt, is not over friendly to America; on his right was 
the Spanish Ambassador, and on his left Motono from 
Japan. It was a very trying moment for the Japa- 
nese Minister, as he arrived after practically all the 
guests were assembled. The Russians were not lack- 
ing in courtesy to him, but very formal with the excep- 
tion of Witte and Lamsdorff, the former having a long 
talk with Motono after dinner. Practically all the 
members of the Cabinet were present, with the Master 
of Ceremonies of the Court. Dournovo,^ who was 
beside the Spanish Ambassador, I think, had some 
difficulty in understanding him. There was too much 
food and not very well selected, and a quantity of dif- 
ferent wines. Lamsdorff whispered to me towards the 
end of the dinner, ' The Frenchman does not even eat 
his own dishes or drink his wine.' This evidently pro- 
voked the Minister of Foreign Affairs in that the 
French Ambassador showed so little appreciation of 
the good things which were offered. 

1 Minister of the Interior. 



268 GEORGE von L. MEYER t^soe 

" Attended the horse show, which was very good, 
especially the Cossacks, who ride marvellously well. 

" Ajjril 4. — Call on Lamsdorff, it being his offi- 
cial reception day. He happened to be quite com- 
municative, very rare for him, concerning the famous 
Temps article which printed his now famous instruc- 
tions to Cassini at Algeciras. It seems that a few min- 
utes after Nelidow, Russian Ambassador at Paris, had 
received an official copy, he was talking with a French 
gentleman in his Embassy about the alliance between 
Russia and France, and as proof of Russia's fidelity 
to France mentioned the recent instructions to Cas- 
sini. This same gentleman went direct to the Temps 
office, and they were published so promptly that Bour- 
geois, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, read them in 
the Temps before he saw the official copy. Germany 
at once took offense and asked for an explanation. 
Lamsdorff gave the above, and said, as a proof that 
the original had not been given out, that they were an 
imperfect version. 

" April 5. — Constitutional Democrats carry the 
election in Petersburg, elect all their candidates. 

" Witte tells a friend that he expects any day that 
an attempt will be made on his life. Letters from 
Alice tell of her talk with Mrs. Cowles, which were 
complimentary, of what her brother, the President, had 
said — that I sent him the best all-round information, 
and that he realized how much I had accomplished! 

" Witte is not only nervous about his personal 
safety, but also about his political future. He will 
have no following in the Duma among the Constitu- 



1906] AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 269 

tional Democrats, now known as the Cadets over 
among the majority. It is said that Witte wants to 
get out before the Duma meets, and apparently break 
with Dournovo. This he feels would help him polit- 
ically ; but the Tsar will not accept his resignation, and 
evidently it is realized that on account of the loan that 
is being negotiated in London and Paris it is better to 
have him continue in office at least until that is out of 
the way or placed. 

''April 8. — At the Concours Hippique it was 
rumoured that there was to be an attempt on the life 
of the Grand Due Nicolas Nicolaievitch. Nothing 
happened. 

" All the trams, electric, were stopped running 
across the river on the ice to-day. People were also 
stopped walking or driving across, so that all traffic is 
stopped. 

" Close of the Morocco Conference yesterday. The 
Inspector General proposed for military police is to 
be a superior officer of the Swiss Army, and the dif- 
ferences between the Maghzen and the State Bank 
should be referred to the Federal High Court of 
Lausanne. 

" The United States through its representative, 
Henry White, stated [that], while accepting the ap- 
plication of the Conference for its own citizens, [it] 
could not assume any responsibility for their enforce- 
ment. 

" It is just about a year ago that the German Em- 
peror made his sensational call and visit to Tangier 
which resulted in the Conference just closed. 



270 GEORGE von L. MEYER f^»»« 

'' April 12. — Send a letter by the English courier 
for Washington tiia London, one to the Department 
concerning Russo-China affairs in the Far East, and 
another to Lodge with my article on ' Our Inelastic 
Currency.' ^ I asked him for his judgment on it, as I 
had intended to have it published either in the Atlantic 
Monthly or the Review of Reviews, but decided to 
send it for his use. I am curious to hear what he 
thinks of it. 

" The eruption of Vesuvius continues, several 
towns having been deserted, a few destroyed, which I 
have been through a little over a year ago in my auto. 
I see that the King and Queen visited the places 
threatened, much to the joy of the inhabitants, who 
felt, with what was happening, God and the Saints had 
deserted them. 

''April 14. — Went to the mass at St. Isaac's 
Cathedral. Only part of the Diplomatic Corps were 
there, including the French Ambassador. The service 
begins at 11 p.m. and it lasts for hours. At midnight 
they march out of the Church, walking round the en- 
tire building. Then they come and knock on the door, 
march through the Church, and announce that Christ 
has risen. The cannons thunder at the same moment 
from the Fortress across the river. Why they have 
Christ rising to the peal of the cannons is not quite 
explained by the Russians. The Church was crowded, 
but the service was not impressive after the first few 

1 This article, published in the Atlantio Monthly for July, 1906, was a 
statistical comparison of the financial methods of the United States with 
those of England, France, and Germany. 



1906} AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 271 

moments, as there is a constant and tedious repetition 
of the same doleful chant. 

''April 15 (Russian Easter Day). — At half -past 
one A.M. I went from the Cathedral to a Russian 
supper at the Bobrinskoys. It did not differ much as 
to food from an old fashioned New England dinner 
in the middle of the day (twelve hours later). There 
was turkey, gelinotte, salads, cranberry sauce, cake, 
fruits, and a special dish of hard cream with currants 
in moulded form. It takes several days to make it 
properly and, to my surprise, [it] was very good. All 
the Russians kissed each other three times. The Fiirst- 
enbergs ^ and myself, the only strangers, were not 
included in this ceremony; however, they were all most 
cordial, hospitable and charming in their manners, and 
I was glad to have a chance of seeing this delightful 
side of Russian fete celebration in their home life. 
The young girls and men sat at one end of the table, 
the hostess and her friends at the other end. The con- 
versation was animated, and good feeling predomi- 
nated and made itself felt throughout the evening. 
Countess Bobrinskoy presented me with a fascinating 
little enamelled Faberger egg. The guests were Belos- 
selskys, Fersens, Warashoff, Dashkoff, Ivan Orloffs, 
Orloff Dernidoff, Benckendorff, Nieroth, Troubet- 
skoy, etc. Eating, drinking, talking, and merry-mak- 
ing were kept up until 4 a.m. 

" Lunch at the Austrian Embassy with Prince and 
Princess Fiirstenberg; the latter gives me a Faberger 
Easter egg with her best wishes. 

1 Of the Austrian Embassy. 



272 GEORGE von L. MEYER f^^^^ 

''April 16. — Rumours of the death of Grand 
Duke Michel, also that the Dowager Empress was 
ill, and that something had happened to Dournovo. 
This is the city of potins, and rumours and stories 
spread with the rapidity of prairie fires. It was all on 
account of the prefet of the city having neglected to 
say that on Easter they might put out flags as well as 
having illuminations. Therefore the police ordered 
down the flags. People said at once something had 
happened, and then the above rumours started. 

" The telegram which the German Emperor sent 
to Count Golerchowski is attracting considerable at- 
tention; is evidently meant as a slap at Italy for her 
lukewarm support at Algeciras. The fact that Em- 
peror William said to Austria that ' you proved your- 
self a brilliant second at the scene of struggle,' may 
not entirely please Austria, though undoubtedly it was 
meant to be complimentary. 

''April 17. — Maxim Gorky, who arrived in 
America with Andreiva, an actress who was attempt- 
ing to pass off as his wife, has since been turned out 
of three hotels; every one has cancelled engagements 
with him, even Mr. Mitchell, the head of one of the 
labour unions. So that Gorky, who received a favour- 
able reception when he first arrived — and even Mark 
Twain and Howells attended a dinner — is now dis- 
credited. 

" President Roosevelt, in his speech at the laying 
of the corner-stone of the new Congressional Building, 
attacked the magazine articles which were attacking 
and maligning all pubhc men alike and trying to 



1906} AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 273 

discredit them before the public. He also touched on 
the possible necessity of limiting in the future by a 
progressive tax all fortunes above a certain amount. 
This has excited a world-wide interest. 

"April 21. — Have a small lunch for young Mr. 
Harper of Chicago and Guy Scull of Boston.^ After- 
ward take them with Miles ^ and Thompson of the 
Associated Press to see the Duma. It is in the palace 
of the Tauride Garden, the one which Catherine gave 
to Potemkin. A year ago I saw there the private 
collection of paintings of Catherine and some of the 
men and women of her time. Now it has been 
adapted for the use of the Duma, with considerable 
taste, and the halls and antecamera with their many 
columns are most dignified. The chamber itself is dif- 
ferent from any that I have i^een, part of it being 
divided off by columns back of the speaker, which I 
should think would affect the acoustic properties. The 
aisles are very narrow, and when voting is going on 
may cause confusion, as I believe it is not to be done 
by the members sitting in their seats and answering 
the roll-call, but by a division of the house, the mem- 
bers passing back of the speaker or president on either 
side. The decorations are in excellent taste. The 
press are in seats by themselves on the floor of the 
house, being on each side of the presiding officer. Ar- 
rangements have been made to feed the members of 
the Duma in the building. 

1 American newspaper correspondents in St. Petersburg, to see the 
opening of the Duma. 

2 Basil Miles, who had come to St. Petersburg in December with Mr. 
IMeyer, as his Diplomatic Secretary. 



274 GEORGE vox L. MEYER t^^^^ 

'' Apiil 27. — The London Times comes out with 
an article from their correspondent, which intimates 
that the Tsar is about to give a constitution which 
limits the powers of Duma and retains many auto- 
cratic ones for himself. The London Times cor- 
respondent is so much in sympathy with the Revolu- 
tionists and so prejudiced against the Government 
that he can never credit the Emperor with a good 
motive and scarcely ever places the issues fairly and 
impartially to the English public. Think he should 
be removed if England and Russia wish to come to a 
good entente. 

'^ April 28. — Dine at Count and Countess Witte's 
in the Winter Palace — dinner given for the Grand 
Duke Vladimir. . . . The guests were the Fiirsten- 
bergs, Belosselskys, Orloff-Davidoff, Fersens, Goudo- 
vitch, Worouzow, Dashkoff. Neither Witte nor his 
wife seemed at their ease, he distrait and she watching 
the servants. After I had tasted the white wine he 
said, " Tell me frankly, is the wine good? " I sat on 
her left and had on my left Princess Susie Belosselsky, 
Grand Duke Vladimir being on her right, Princess 
Fiirstenberg on the right of Witte, and Countess 
Goudovitch on his left. 

" After dinner, instead of allowing the Grand 
Duke to choose his players for bridge, as is customary. 
Countess Witte arranged that Vladimir, her husband, 
Countess Fersen, and Countess Orloff-Davidoff play 
at one table. Princess Belosselsky, Savinsky, Fiirsten- 
berg and myself at another. The Duke did not look 
very pleased with the arrangement as he likes to have 



1906} AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 275 

the best players at his table. We played until mid- 
night. I spoke to Witte about the palace that had 
been arranged for the Duma, how well it had been 
done and in what good taste; my only criticism was 
that they had given too good a place to the press. It 
would have been better to have them in the gallery 
and not on the floor where they can talk to the 
members. 

''April 29. — Dine at Princess Olga Orloff's in 
Tsarskoe Selo. Dinner given for Grand Duke 
Vladimir. Among other guests was General Trepoff, 
who had been Governor General of St. Petersburg. 
After dinner I had an opportunity to have a chat with 
him. I complimented him on the ability he had shown 
in governing St. Petersburg after the disturbance of 
January 22, 1905, and the order that he had main- 
tained. He told me that he was on his way to Man- 
churia and was to have had his audience with the 
Tsar when he was suddenly named Governor General 
of St. P. It had been a very difficult and trying 
position, and it was a real pleasure and comfort 
when he was relieved. He spoke of how much some 
newspaper journalists did by misrepresenting condi- 
tions and circumstances; then, speaking of the Duma, 
he assured me that he considered it a serious time for 
the Government, as all the members elected practically 
were opposed to the administration. The Duma re- 
quired a leader of force and character, combining tact 
and skill, able to meet the emergencies which would 
surely arise. Would that man rise, and what line 
would be taken? At that moment the Grand Duke 



276 GEORGE von L. MEYER ^^^oe 

sent for me to make up a partie de bridge; for once 
I was sorry to have to play. 

'' May 2. — Cable the Department that Witte has 
resigned and the Emperor has accepted his resigna- 
tion — Goremykin his probable successor. 

" Drive Major Gibson ^ out to Krestovsky to see 
my polo ponies which have been wintering there. On 
returning, call at the Foreign Office, it being the day 
for Lamsdorff to receive the Diplomatic Corps. Rus- 
sianlike they knew nothing about Witte's resignation, 
and I was able to inform the diplomats myself that it 
would be official by to-morrow. This knowledge was 
due to special official information which I had received. 

" Among other things which I saw Lamsdorff 
about was the export duty on old and worn-out rubber 
shoes, which we buy in America for making rubber 
tires. Lamsdorff remarked, * What an extraordinary 
matter for diplomatic pourparlers! ' and then laughed. 

" Play bridge at Countess Mengden's, Palace of 
the late Grand Duke Serge. Nothing but Russians 
present; I being the only stranger, I felt quite com- 
plimented. I played with Madame Orloff and Prince 
Youssoupoff. At half past 12 we stopped and had a 
sit-down supper. 

" May 5. — Play bridge at Prince Youssoupoff 's. 
His palace is on a par with the great palaces of Rome. 
The white marble escalier is more dignified than any 
I remember in Rome. One room is about 80 feet 
long; the walls are covered with tapestries that were 
given to the Youssonpoffs by the King of France 

1 Military Attache of the American Embassy. 



1906} AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 277 

when Comte du Nord (Emperor Paul) was visiting 
Paris. The salon in which the Princess was serving 
tea was full of Greuzes, and there is also a remarkable 
gallery with Rembrandts and other chefs d'oeuvre, be- 
sides a unique little theatre." 

To Senator Lodge 

■ St. Petersburg, May 7, 1906. 
My deab, Cabot, — 

. . . Witte, as I prophesied in my letter, has resigned, 
and his resignation has been accepted, as well as that of Dour- 
novo, the Minister of the Interior. 

The formal ceremonies of inaugurating the Duma will 
follow the custom in Berlin and Vienna, of having the members 
assemble in the Palace, where the Emperor will make his ad- 
dress from the throne. The Duma will be in the control of the 
Constitutional Democrats and their candidate for President of 
the Duma is a certain Professor MuromtsefF, a man of ability 
and character. The trouble will be, however, that none of the 
members will have had any parliamentary experience, and it 
remains to be seen whether they will develop the power of self- 
control and the necessary judgment to enact wise legislation, 
so needful to the country. 

Everything is at present an unknown quantity as to what 
action the Duma will take, the Government hoping that they 
will simply organize and perform the necessary perfunctory 
legislation and then adjourn until the autumn; but such action 
would be very unsatisfactory to the peasants and all people 
interested in reform. 

I am happy to say my wife and daughters apparently 
escaped any serious injury from the railroad accident which 
occurred on their way from Cherbourg to Paris. ^ It might 

1 They arrived safe in St. Petersburg, May 14. 



278 GEORGE ton L. MEYER t^^os 

have been most serious, and Is thought to be the result of the 
strikes which are going on in France. 

' Very sincerely yours, 

George v. L. Meyee. 

[Diary'] 

*' May 10. — Beautiful bright summer's day. Open- 
ing of the Duma. 

"Drive to the Winter Palace at 1 p.m., as the 
invitation instructed me to be there at 1.15. The car- 
riage enters the gate of the garden from the Palace 
Square, to a special door for the diplomats. We, the 
Chefs de Mission, assemble in a circular room, and, 
while waiting, several of the Russians pass through in 
their Court costumes, the ladies with their headgear 
and court trains, most striking and fine-looking — the 
Princess Troubetskoy, nee Doigorouky, the hand- 
somest. All the dresses were off the shoulders and a 
beautiful neck was seen to great advantage and occa- 
sionally generously displayed. At half-past one, one 
of the masters of ceremonies gave the signal and we 
marched two by two through several great halls and 
salons to the St. George's Hall. The Turkish and 
French Ambassadors led off, then the Italian and 
myself, behind us the German and the Spanish, on 
account of the Austrian and Enghsh not being present. 
All the Russian officials and ladies of the Court were 
in their places, and we walked through lines of beau- 
tiful ladies on one side and officials and officers in bril- 
liant costumes and uniforms, until we reached St. 
George's Hall. A number of ladies and officers 



1906] AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 279 

greeted me in a very charming manner as I passed; 
the Russians, when you get to know them well, are the 
most informal and affable people in the world. 

"In St. George's Hall the space allotted to the 
Ambassadors and Ministers was a raised stage, but 
on the right side of the hall near the entrance. The 
stage on the other side of the entrance directly oppo- 
site to where we stood was not occupied and might 
have been assigned to the ladies of the Diplomatic 
Corps. 

" The entire left side of the Hall was occupied 
by the members of the Duma, and they were peasants, 
shopkeepers, priests, merchants, lawyers, even a den- 
tist and a Catholic bishop. Perhaps a third were in 
dress-suits, half a dozen in uniform, and many in 
simple peasant costume and rough clothes. All this 
made a strange contrast with the officers in their silver 
or gold-lace uniforms, members of the Council with 
decorations, and members of the Court. On one side 
were the representatives of the people and on the 
other those of the bureaucracy past and present. 
Those on the right had shown themselves unequal to 
the task of satisfactorily governing the nation. Would 
the left be equal to the occasion? Judging simply 
from appearances, it was not encouraging. It would 
have been interesting to have been able to compare 
them with the Assembly of Louis XIV. 

" At a quarter of two one heard in the distance the 
national anthem, played by the trumpeters, growing 
gradually louder as the Emperor and his courtiers 
approached. Finally the doors were thrown open, and 



280 GEORGE von L. MEYER t^soe 

first came richly attired court servants, then two mas- 
ters of ceremonies, each bearing an Imperial golden 
eagle, followed by others carrying the Sword of State, 
the Seal of the State, the Imperial Banner, the globe, 
the sceptre, and finally the crown, glittering with beau- 
tiful jewels. Directly behind the crown came twelve 
Palace grenadiers, wearing uniforms of a century ago. 
Immediately after came His Imperial Majesty, with 
the Empress Alexandra on his left and the Empress 
Dowager on his right. The Grand Dukes Michel and 
Vladimir and the remainder of the Imperial family 
followed in order of precedence. Half-way down the 
hall the Emperor stopped and kissed the cross in the 
hands of the High Priest, and then the religious cere- 
mony commenced with chanting and choir. That fin- 
ished, the Emperor proceeded alone to the throne, 
where he seated himself while the two Empresses 
walked to the right of the throne and remained stand- 
ing. The Grand Dukes and Grand Duchesses assem- 
bled further to the right, but not on the steps of the 
throne. 

" In watching the deputies I was surprised to note 
that many of them did not even return the bows of 
His Majesty, some giving an awkward nod, others 
staring him coldly in the face, showing no enthusiasm, 
and even almost sullen indifference. As he rose again 
from the throne, there was an absolute stillness. He 
then proceeded in a firm voice to read his address. 
When he finished there was a tremendous outbreak 
of applause, but limited almost entirely to the right 
side of the hall, the deputies remaining quiet. As he 



1906} AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 281 

descended from the throne and the members of the 
royal household formed in line according to their 
rank, the applause and shouting on the right con- 
tinued and increased, but the marked silence on the 
left was ever noticeable. The Emperor carried him- 
self with dignity under the trying ordeal, and should 
receive credit for what he said in his address to the 
members of the Duma. Judging merely from appear- 
ances, it was difficult to recognize any marked ability 
or distinguishing trait among the members of the 
Duma which would specially fit them for the great 
task that is before them; but the contrast between 
those on the left and those on the right was the great- 
est that one could possibly imagine, one being a real 
representation of different classes of this great Em- 
pire, and the others of what the autocracy and 
bureaucracy have been. 

" The peasants have come here for the reforming 
or even the repealing of the laws of property, in order 
that they may gain by a division of the land. It is 
said that they desire to go so far as to introduce laws 
forbidding the land-owners to possess more than a cer- 
tain amount of land. When land is thus given up, it 
is to be divided among the peasants of the district and 
paid for at a certain price. 

" On the other hand the Democratic party has been 
making a great many promises which it will be unable 
to fulfil. Whether an eventual conflict can be avoided 
between the Crown and the Duma remains to be seen; 
but with the overwhelming majority of the Constitu- 
tional Democrats in the Lower House, it would appear 



282 GEORGE von L. MEYER t^^^^ 

wise for the Tsar to select a Cabinet at once from 
their number, in order that they should be held respon- 
sible to the people for the acts of the Duma. 

"May 11. — Went to the first session of the re- 
organized Council of Empire, held in the Hall of the 
Noblesse, a very dignified and handsome hall with pil- 
lars and columns which go round the hall leaving a 
broad corridor and perfect circulation. It is located 
on the Place Michel. 

" It is now made up of 90 Senators elected and 90 
named by the Emperor. The personnel is very dif- 
ferent from that of the Duma. The 90 chosen by 
the Emperor are naturally members of the former 
bureaucracy, but some have seen light and have liberal 
tendencies; of those chosen, practically all are liberal 
or so inclined with conservative tendencies. I met one 
elective senator. He impressed me very favourably, but 
they are all very ignorant of parliamentary procedure 
and practical constitutional government. Nothing was 
done at this session beyond organizing. 

" It is quite remarkable what interest all the Rus- 
sians take in Gorky having been turned down in 
America and how much it pleases them. It is very 
noticeable that in all the salons now political discus- 
sions take place with absolute freedom and no re- 
straint, and great interest shown, as well as doubt as 
to the future. There is a great awakening in Russia. 

" May 12. — Comte Lamsdorff calls and leaves a 
p.lp.c. card, with a line drawn through Minister of 
Foreign Affairs. 

" Iswolsky, former Minister at Copenhagen, named 



1906} AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 283 

officially as Lamsdorff's successor. The Duma has 
its second meeting. Muromtseff, the President, an- 
nounces that he has reported his election to the Em- 
peror. It is said that he was much impressed by the 
Emperor and that the Emperor found the President 
of the Duma sympathetic. This is very important, if 
true, for the reason that if they understand and trust 
each other, they will then be able to accomplish much 
in the way of reform and future progressive actions. 

" The Duma spent its time on the questions and 
petitions for amnesty. 

'' May 14. — A workman in the Navy Yard stabs 
the Admiral with an old rusty file because he would 
not give them a holiday. The common people are 
very barbaric and unruly. Yet amnesty is said to be 
desired for all political prisoners, whether they have 
committed murder or not. The Duma may come to a 
deadlock with the Emperor on this question. He 
might as well abdicate if he includes those guilty of 
murder or bomb-throwing. 

" To-day is Russian 1st May, but there have been 
practically no disturbances throughout the country. 

" It is reported that the body of Father Gapon has 
been found.^ 

''May 15. — At half -past four Alice and I go to 
the palace of the Grand Duke Vladimir to pay our 
respects to the Grand Duchess — it being her fete day. 

" The reply to the speech from the throne was sub- 
mitted to the Duma to-day. It demands complete po- 

iGapon's murder is dramatically described in The Eclipse of Ruasia, 
by E. J. Dillon, pp. 168-171. 



284 GEORGE von L. MEYER t^^^^ 

litical amnesty as the first pledge of understanding 
between the Tsar and the people; also deals with the 
agrarian question. A peasant deputy compared the 
Council of the Empire to old rotten beams used in 
the building of a new edifice. 

" May 19. — The bag brought a letter from the 
President enclosing all the correspondence, letters, and 
cables, for the last year, over the Morocco Conference. 
This includes the President's personal correspondence 
with the Emperor William. Feel very flattered that 
he should have taken the trouble to do this, and shall 
consider it confidential as requested. 

" The President quotes a cable last summer dated 
July 22, from Emperor William, in which he says : ' I 
have just seen the Emperor of Russia. He is tranquil 
and peaceably inclined, appreciates your efforts, likes 
your Ambassador, Mr. Meyer, and trusts him, and 
hopes with your influence over Japan that you will be 
able to induce Japan to make reasonable terms for 
peace.' This, the President says, he forgot to read me 
last autumn. 

" May 20. — The Emperor has refused to receive 
the delegation appointed to present the address in 
answer to the speech from the throne. Informs the 
Duma that it should be sent through the minister of 
the Court." 



1906} AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 285 



To President Roosevelt 

St. Petersburg, 3/21 May, 1906. 
My dear Mr. President, — 

I beg leave to acknowledge your letter of April 30, enclos- 
ing copies of letters and cables covering over a year in connec- 
tion with a certain conference. 

I appreciate very much your taking this trouble, as it 
interested me immensely, and shall naturally consider it confi- 
dential. What an insight it gives into the character of a cer- 
tain individual playing a most prominent part on the world's 
stage ! 

The reception given by the Tsar in the Winter Palace 
to the members of the Duma, and his address from the throne, 
made a strong impression upon me. On the right were all the 
members of the bureaucracy and autocracy in their gala uni- 
forms, and on the left the members of the Duma, a few in dress 
clothes but many in simple and rough attire, including the 
peasants in their long boots and shock hair. The address was 
received with enthusiasm on the right and absolute silence on 
the left, and even the salute, in many instances, received no 
recognition or response, which was most surprising to the Rus- 
sians, as one has always been told that the peasants would fall 
on their knees in the presence of their Emperor. 

Some of the papers have been criticizing the following 
sentence in the Emperor's address as reactionary — although to 
my mind it might have been said by a President of the United 
States without criticism : " Not only is liberty necessary, but 
also order, as the basis of law." 

The Duma as at present constituted contains practically 
but one party, the Cadets. The minority is infinitesimal and 
without any leaders. The majority is so overwhelming that 
debate is all one-sided. The choice of the presiding officer, 



286 GEORGE von L. MEYER tim- 

known as President, Mr. Muromtseff, is in all probability a 
happy one. The part which he is to play will require not only 
ability but amiability, coupled with tact and patience. 

Russia is entering upon a great experiment, ill-prepared 
and really uneducated. Will this great majority in the Duma 
formulate legislation only after due consideration and without 
precipitation? 

In its address in reply to the speech from the throne the 
Duma states that it expects a full political amnesty as the first 
pledge of a mutual understanding and agreement between the 
Tsar and his people. To meet the needs of the peasantry, it 
affirms that the Duma would not be doing its duty if it did 
not make a law for the satisfaction of agrarian needs by the 
aid of crown domains, monastic lands, and by the compulsory 
expropriation of land belonging to owners of estates. It con- 
siders that the death penalty is not advisable as a basis for 
judicial sentences. Popular education is another task that lies 
before the Duma, and emphasis is placed upon the absolute 
necessity of passing definite laws assuring inviolability of per- 
son, liberty of conscience, speech, the press, association, meet- 
ing, and strikes. 

No Imperial Council, the Duma thinks, composed of ap- 
pointed dignitaries and persons elected by the highest classes 
of the population, should stand between the Duma and the 
Throne. At the same time, the principle of responsibility of 
the administration to the representatives of the nation must be 
adopted. 

It is pointed out that only when Ministers are made 
responsible to the people, can the idea of absolute responsi- 
bility of the Monarch take root in the hearts of the people, 
and therefore only a Ministry enjoying the confidence of the 
Duma can strengthen the confidence in the Government. 

In order to perfect the principles of popular representa- 



1906} AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 287 

tion, the Duma will submit a bill on universal suffrage in ac- 
cordance with the unanimously expressed will of the people. 

As showing the differences of opinion, I quote the follow- 
ing as an expression from a member of the Duma : " An amnesty 
is indispensable, because all Russians who endeavoured to over- 
turn the Government are patriots, and those who risked their 
lives in taking the lives of the oppressors are the most heroic 
of all. For these, therefore, an amnesty is more necessary 
than for the men in prison for lesser offences." 

On the other hand an aristocratic dignitary said: "If the 
Tsar admits even implicitly that one Russian may murder 
another and merit approval because his motives are political, 
then the Tsar has virtually signed his abdication. Likewise, 
if the Emperor allows the principle of private property to be 
violated in favour of the peasants against the gentry, he can- 
not prevent the application of the same rule in favour of the 
indigent against the well-to-do peasant." 

It is difficult to see how the Emperor will consent to the 
suppression of the Council of Empire, created by himself, and 
constituting an upper chamber. 

The desire of the Duma to secure a monopoly of legis- 
lation, if pressed, is likely to cause a crisis. Then again, can 
the transfer of land which is already personal property, to the 
Russian peasant, be affected without a struggle.'' 

The Court party appears to be labouring under the 
delusion that the Duma misrepresents the nation. They 
apparently are as blind to the storm that is gathering as 
they were to the evidences which foretold a naval defeat to 
Rodjestvensky. 

I cannot help but take a pessimistic view as to the future, 
when I see evidences almost everywhere of a communistic spirit 
among the workmen and peasants. Added to this is the fact 
that the Government throughout the year has been driving even 



288 GEORGE von L. MEYER t^''^^ 

the moderate element, which now are unorganized, over to the 
Extremists. 

From the above I do not mean to imply that a crash is 
coming at once, but that sooner or later a struggle on these 
questions between the Crown and the Duma, unless all signs fail, 
is more than probable. To-day the Government is in posses- 
sion of funds and the Army, but within three years the entire 
Army will have been recruited, and with the new ideas and doc- 
trines that are permeating the minds of the people who can 
tell if the Government can then rely upon the troops to obey 
the officers and quell disturbances. 

Believe me, Mr. President, 

Respectfully yours, 

' George v. L. Meyer. 

P.S. Monsieur Iswolsky, the new Minister of Foreign Affairs, 
was a secretary at the Russian Legation in Washington under 
Mr. Struve. He has also held posts in Rome, Darmstadt, 
Tokyo, and lately was Minister at Copenhagen. His expe- 
rience in the diplomatic service has been quite extensive and is 
always most useful to a Minister of Foreign Affairs. I think 
the office will be run with more expedition. This task, how- 
ever, will prove more difficult than that of his predecessor, as 
he will have to follow the proceedings of both the Duma and the 
reorganized Council of Empire. I have found him very prompt 
in attending to matters that I have brought to his attention 
so far. 

[Diaryl 

"'May ^(?. — Took Alice and the girls to the 
Duma. It was a memorable day, as the Prime Min- 
ister, Goremykin, announced from the Tribunal that 
amnesty would not be granted or expropriation con- 



1906} AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 289 

sidered. At the conclusion of the Prune Minister's 
remarks there was not a sign of approval of any sort. 
Then speeches were made by several of the members 
criticizing in very strong language the announcement, 
finally demanding the resignation of the Cabinet in 
which the Duma had lost all confidence, and demand- 
ing that it be selected from the Duma. Many Rus- 
sians of prominence were present, showing much 
interest and some resentment at the Duma's action 
and final resolution. 

''June 8. — Give a dinner of 22 for the German 
Ambassador and Madame de Schoen and the British 
Ambassador and Lady Nicolson. Mr. de Lovenorn, 
the Danish Minister, sent word at half-past two that 
the Grand Duchess Vladimir had sent for him to come 
to dinner and therefore he would not be able to keep 
his engagement. The Grand Duchess never invites 
her guests until the day of a dinner, and consequently 
continually upsets dinner parties, which is most trying 
to the host and no compUment to the people that she 
invites at the last moment. On two occasions I re- 
fused to throw over the French Ambassador's dinner 
and on another occasion the German Ambassador's — 
I felt it was only due to my colleagues as Ambas- 
sadors. 

''June 13. — Colonel Bryan (William Jennings 
Bryan) and his wife arrive in St. Petersburg. He 
and his wife lunch with us. Bryan said to me, ' I see 
that the papers say I have grown more conservative. 
I am, as a fact, more radical now than I was four 
years ago. It is the sentiment in the United States 



2^0 GEORGE von L. MEYER tiy«6 

that has changed. The people look differently at some 
of the things that I advocated and now no longer con- 
sider them dangerous.' 

" Mrs. Bryan is a quiet, ladylike, simple person 
with nice eyes. I arranged that we would go to the 
Duma to-morrow morning, and would call on Mr. 
Iswolsky by appointment at the Foreign Office to- 
morrow afternoon at 5 o'clock. 

" Bryan was in very good spirits after his travels. 
He has become broadened and more the man of the 
world. 

" He told a very good story at the table about the 
man out West who went into a small baker's shop 
and asked if they had pies such as mother used to 
make. ' Yes,' they replied. ' Exactly the same as 
mother made?' 'Yes.' 'Well, then,' he said, 'give 
me something quite different!' 

'' June 14' — Colonel Bryan arrived with his wife 
at 11 A.M., in coupe with a smart pair of grey horses, 
coachman in livery and a cockade in his hat. Bryan 
himself wore a silk hat. If some of his Western ad- 
mirers could have seen him, they would have had a 
surprise. 

" I put my wife in the coupe with Mr. Bryan. 
We somehow had changed places. I was in a rough 
suit and he in frock coat. As our wives drove off I 
said to him, 'We will be democratic and get into a 
droshky.' 'All right,' he replied with a twinkle in 
his eye, showing that he caught on to my point. 

" I presented Bryan to Count Potocki and Prin- 
cess Galitzine. 



mG\ AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 201 

"At 5 o'clock we called on Iswolsky, Minister of 
Foreign Affairs, who appeared to be posted as to Mr. 
Bryan's career and even to his movements lately. 
Iswolsky was exceptionally frank as to the situation 
and the Duma. Believed the Duma was not in sym- 
pathy with the present Cabinet in any way, and as it 
was taken from the bureaucratic element he felt that 
it could not work with this Duma. He was prepared 
to resign, and even advocated it and selecting a 
Cabinet from the Cadets in the Duma: this would 
make them realize more fully the difficulties and in the 
end cause them to be more conservative. He also 
spoke very strongly on expropriation of private land 
and the payment of about half-value, as out of the 
question; that the Government was formulating a 
scheme which it had not yet fully announced. Colonel 
Bryan spoke of the safety of letting off steam, which 
he compared to allowing people to speak and say what 
was on their minds, and that when people were put in 
power and made responsible they became more con- 
servative and reasonable. Expressed the behef that 
later the Duma would hne up with two or three 
parties, and in leaving said to the Minister of Foreign 
Affairs that he hoped the Duma and the Government 
would find a common ground on which they could 
work together understandingly. 

" June 20. — Call on Goremykin, the Prime Min- 
ister, by appointment at 1 o'clock. Receives me very 
cordially. I tell him that I appreciate his giving me 
time when he must be terribly busy. He goes on to 
say how difficult his task is; that the Duma is nothing 



292 GEORGE von L. MEYER I^^^^? 

more than an organized revolutionary body; that ex- 
propriation is merely a platform with them ; that noth- 
ing the Government might offer would satisfy; and as 
a proof of this tells me that the Government is work- 
ing out a land scheme which the Duma refuses even 
to consider. He complains of the press, especially the 
English, misrepresenting the actual condition of af- 
fairs; says he does not understand it, does not want to 
think that England desires to see Russia weakened, 
but prefers to believe it is due to the Jews who own 
so many influential journals in England. Informed 
me that there was an active propaganda going on dis- 
tributing revolutionary literature among the troops. 
He realized that Russia was passing through a crisis 
which would have to spend its force, much as an epi- 
demic of measles. He did not impress me as a man 
of force or equal in any way to the present situation. 
Does not appreciate the new sentiment which has per- 
meated the people, nor does he understand the Duma 
or take into account that representative government 
has now got a footing, and that consideration of the 
Duma's wishes must hereafter receive attention, and 
not be thwarted or scorned if the Tsar wishes to keep 
his throne. 

'' June 2 A. — My 48th birthday — time and years 
are flying! 

" Receive a cable from the State Department say- 
ing, ' The President wishes you to take the earliest 
occasion to informally ascertain whether the reports of 
the acquiescence of local authorities in the recent de- 
plorable massacre of Jews at Byalostok are unfounded 



1906^ AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 293 

or not,' etc. I wrote to Iswolsky and asked him kindly 
to name the earliest moment to-day or to-morrow that 
he could see me conveniently. Word came back to 
call at the Foreign Office at 4.30 this afternoon. I 
know perfectly well that the Russian Government has 
our code, so I went with a typewritten copy of the 
translation of the cable. Mr. Iswolsky seemed rather 
nervous when he received me and I said I would like 
to read a cable message; got quite excited and said, 
* What sort of a message? I do not understand.' All 
of which was unnatural and unnecessary had he not 
already known of my cable through code in their pos- 
session. When I said it was about the Jews and the 
massacre at Byalostok, he said he must decline to dis- 
cuss it, as it was an internal affair, even informally or 
for information; that he could only refer to the com- 
munique of the Minister of the Interior which had 
been published and sent to all the Governors and 
prefets, instructing them to take the greatest precau- 
tions and not to delay, as quick action would prevent 
further disturbances, etc. 

'" June 25. — English Ambassador, Sir Arthur 
Nicolson, called on me by appointment at 11 a.m. 
Informed me that he has also called on Iswolsky to 
obtain information informally as to the Government's 
attitude on the Jewish Massacre. The Minister of 
Foreign Affairs apparently was quite put out and de- 
clined to talk on the subject and referred him, as he 
did me, to the official communication of the Minister 
of the Interior. Nicolson assured him, as I had done, 
it was not the desire to criticize the Government or 



294 GEORGE von L. MEYER t^^^^ 

seem inquisitorial (as I had also stated), but merely 
to put his government, if Russia desired to, in such a 
position as to prevent public opinion becoming incensed 
through the exaggerated accounts of the press. 

"June 26. — Yesterday Count Westphalen^ said 
at polo, ' I hear you and the English Ambassador re- 
ceived a refusal at the Foreign Office.' I merely 
replied, ' Where did you get that idea? ' He hesitated 
and said, ' I think my Ambassador told me.' This 
morning I met the British Ambassador, Nicolson, and 
told him the remark of Westphalen, at the same time 
asking him if he thought that Iswolsky could have 
talked about it to one of our colleagues; that it would 
be bad for public sentiment if it got into the American 
papers. He acknowledged having mentioned it him- 
self to the French and German Ambassadors, but felt 
sure he had not spoken of my experience. Asked if 
I thought Bompard or Schoen would repeat it. 

'' June 28. — The British Ambassador, Sir Arthur 
Nicolson, called this morning at 10.30 to inform me 
that it was evidently Schoen, the German Ambassador, 
who had been told by Iswolsky that the British Am- 
bassador and myself had spoken informally on the 
Russian-Jewish massacres and that he had refused to 
discuss it, etc. It is rather strange that Iswolsky 
should repeat this to Schoen, and is not quite good 
form. They have, however, been former colleagues, 
and the course of events is throwing Germany and 
Russia together. It is greatly to Germany's interest 
that the revolution should not make too much progress. 

1 Counsellor of the Austrian Embassy. 



mo] AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 295 

Russia assisted in the past to put down the revolution 
in Hungary. Germany or Austria may in a similar 
event slip in and attempt the same thing in order to 
discourage Socialism. 

''July 8. — Alice, the girls, and myself go with a 
party to the Princess Orloff's at Strelna. Just as we 
reached there a tremendous thunder-storm came up 
and lasted for an hour. At half-past four we all drove 
to the boat-landing and went out to their steam yacht, 
reaching it as the clouds parted and the sun came out. 
We steamed all around the ' Bay,' and finally, 
through the stupidity of the Captain, got aground, 
and after much difficulty got off. It was a very good 
example of Russian incapacity as mariners. Later we 
steamed in and around Kronstadt, saw the new royal 
yacht, which has fine lines. We dined on board our 
yacht at 7.30, 13 in all — Belosselskys, Cantacuzenes, 
Count and Countess Nieroth, Prince Gahtzine, Prin- 
cess Olga Orloff. Vladimir at the last moment could 
not get away from the Emperor. 

" Came home on the yacht by the ship canal; lovely 

night, but damp. The canal is much larger than I 

imagined, and becomes after a while very monotonous. 

. It is in reality a channel, with artificial banks on each 

side on which scrub trees have been planted. 

"July 11. — Write a letter to President Roose- 
velt on the situation here. Send it by Conger of the 
Associated Press, who leaves for Berlin at 11 a.m. 

" Go down to Tsarskoe Selo to dine with the 
Countess Orloff-Davidoff and play in bridge tourna- 
ment. 



296 GEORGE von L. MEYER t^»^^ 

" In my letter to the President I tell him of Iswol- 
sky's refusal to discuss Byalostok or the Jewish ques- 
tion, and that the British Ambassador received the 
same refusal. I tell him of the doctor ordering me to 
take a cure at Kissingen on account of catarrh of the 
stomach. I should have done it in June, but was 
unable to on account of Eddy's continued absence, 
but must in August. The family will probably sail 
for home in August, and I should like to follow in 
September on leave, if the President has no objec- 
tions. 

" July 12. — Festa, holiday of Peter and Paul. 
Great many drunk on the street, as so many Russians 
have that name, and they are all celebrating. 

" Go to the Kleinmichel House with Alice. Nearly 
everything packed up in cases; have decided to store 
them at the Embassy, and eventually to ship them to 
America, as under no circumstances shall I take a 
house again here. 

" The President sent word through Cabot this 
spring that he intended to take me into his Cabinet 
either this Julj^ or failing that, in January or March, 
1907, at the latest. He also told me that verbally last 
November. Consequently, after I have taken my 
cure, if the conditions prevent or the President does 
not wish me to come to America in the meantime on 
leave, I shall take rooms at a hotel. 

" July 15. — The peasants have begun again in 
different parts of the country burning and pillaging. 
They get drunk on vodka, and then go round burning 
and destroying estates. Their object is either to drive 



1906] AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 297 

away the proprietors or make it impossible for them 
to return. In this way they imagine themselves able 
to force the division of land among themselves. The 
bureaucracy have imagined that they could continue 
to govern 100,000,000 peasants by keeping them un- 
educated and living almost like animals. The peasants, 
having become aroused and dissatisfied, are acting like 
animals and without any judgment or reason. The 
Government and proprietors are now reaping the re- 
sult of their blind and foolish policy. A thorough 
reorganization of the Government and a compulsory 
education of the people is necessary, which will require 
more than one generation. 

" There is only one thing impossible in Russia, and 
that is to understand Russia. The Tsar is stronger 
in ideals than in achievements. The education of the 
masses has been shamefully neglected. The Jews have 
been persecuted and massacred. The bureaucracy is 
corrupt and unpatriotic. There are no leaders on 
either side. The revolutionists want capital punish- 
ment abolished, but freedom to use the bomb. 

"^ July 16. — The agrarian disturbances are in- 
creasing. The Orloff estates with the famous stud and 
stables have been destroyed, also one of the Schiri- 
metew estates; and there is trouble on the Mistchisky 
property. 

" The Russian peasants' union has issued a circular 
among the peasants. It claims that they should have 
land, liberty, and justice. In order to gain their ends, 
peasants who are not day labourers must therefore take 
no part in harvest work, so that landlords may under- 



298 GEORGE von L. MEYER l^»«« 

stand their wealth is due to the peasants* work alone. 
Day labourers must work carelessly so that landlords 
get no profits; they must demand higher wages, better 
food, and longer periods of rest. They must support 
the demands of the Labour Party. It ends with 
* Strike while the iron is hot. The Government fears 
only you. It will be compelled to fulfil your 
demands.' 

" July 18. — Send a dispatch on the present situa- 
tion to the State Department by the English courier. 
It looks to-day as though the Cadets and the Crown 
were drifting farther apart again, and that the present 
Cabinet would be compelled to stay in. This would 
be unfortunate from my point of view. I believe the 
Tsar would do well to take a Cabinet from the Con- 
stitutional Democratic Party, put them in power, and 
make them responsible. It is the only way to make 
them conservative and for the Crown to gain support 
in the Duma while they are still loyal and in a 
majority. 

" The Austrian Ambassador, who has been quite 
pessimistic, to-day felt more encouraged. He looks 
at it from a different point of view. Does not believe 
in recognizing the Democrats, thinks the Duma should 
be dissolved and have the struggle now, which he be- 
lieves would be short-lived as the majority of the 
troops are now loyal. This, as I think, would not 
solve the problem before the country and would mean 
a greater and worse strife later on. Go to the Foreign 
Office. Find the Turkish, French, English, and Ger- 
man Ambassadors all calling. I also pay a call on 



1906] AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 299 

Goubastow, who was formerly in Rome, accredited to 
the Vatican. 

"At 4.30 we all leave for Finland, the Govern- 
ment having assigned a private car for my use. 
D'Aehrenthal was on the train." 

For several days Meyer and his son fished for 
salmon on the lake at Imatra. The journal pro- 
ceeds : — 

^'^ July 21. — Rained early in the morning. Stopped 
at 10 o'clock. ' Bey ' and I went fishing. He had 
great sport, killed five salmon in all; the last one a 
large one, weighing 15 lbs.; took him down the rapids, 
but he saved it and landed it safely in the boat, much 
to his satisfaction and mine. I only killed one good- 
sized one, but he gave me great sport. Csekonics tele- 
graphed, advising us not to travel on Sunday. Some- 
thing must have occurred. I had already decided to 
leave Imatra at 4.30. Found our private car all ready 
for us, arrived in Petersburg at 11.15 p.m. Hibben, 
Third Secretary, waiting to receive us at the station; 
also an officer and several soldiers, who escorted us to 
the royal waiting-room and from there to our auto- 
mobile. 

"When we reached our Villa on Krestovsky, my 
private watchman informed me that the Government 
desired to send out six soldiers as a special guard. I 
wonder if the Emperor has decided to dismiss the 
Duma and they anticipate disturbances. The town of 
Sysran was totally destroyed yesterday by fire. The 
population, about 33,000, has fled to the fields. Many 



300 GEORGE von L. MEYER ^^^^^ 

lives have been lost, mostly children. The bulk of 
the population are without food or shelter. 

'' July 22. — The doctor arrives at 9 a.m. to see 
Julia, and informs my chasseur that the Duma has 
been dismissed. Hibben arrives at 11 a.m., but has no 
news to that effect. Posts me as to what has tran- 
spired the past three days. As a result of the increased 
popularity of the labour group, due to agitation and 
propaganda, the Cadets have not been able to prevent 
the Duma the last few days from taking on a com- 
plexion rather of a revolutionary character, which 
would tend to incite one part of the people against the 
other, and as such is regarded as an unconstitutional 
course. Thus an opportunity is given to the Emperor 
to dissolve the Duma with the possible support of the 
conservative classes. 

" Csekonics arrived after lunch and informed me 
that it was not published in the morning papers, only 
the official messenger had announced that the Emperor 
was dissolving the Duma and announcing the assem- 
bling of the Duma, March 5, 1907. It appears that 
the Tsar considers the Duma's projected national 
manifesto on the agrarian question an act of open 
revolution, and he even reprobates the modified reso- 
lution which the Duma has finally adopted. The vote 
was 124 to 53, 101 of the Socialists, etc., refraining 
from voting. The report rejects the government agra- 
rian proposition and appeals to the peasants to remain 
calm, pending the carrying out of the Duma scheme. 
It strongly favours expropriation of landowners. 
Petersburg quiet. 



1906} AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 301 

'' July 23. — Goremykin's resignation has been ac- 
cepted, as well as that of the Minister of Agriculture, 
and that of the Holy Synod also. Stolypin has been 
made Premier, and it is thought that the other mem- 
bers of the Cabinet will be requested to hold their 
portfolios. 

" Send off a courier to Berlin with dispatches to 
Washington. The English, German, and Austrian 
Embassies also avail themselves of our bag. 

" July 25. — Receive a cable from State Depart- 
ment, in which it says, ' In view of the present situa- 
tion as described in your cablegrams, the President is 
strongly of the opinion that you should not leave Rus- 
sia except for some place from which you can return 
at short notice.' To which I rephed: 'On dissolution 
of Duma gave up going to Kissingen for cure in order 
to await results. Petersburg continues quiet; general 
strike now considered improbable.' 

" Took the family down to Peterhof to see the 
Park and Palace. The Park is really lovely with its 
fine trees, walks, and drives running right down to the 
water. The fountains were all playing, and the canal 
extends from the Palace through the Park in a straight 
line to the water edge ; suggests Versailles, but here all 
the statues are gilded, which is very barbaric. The 
excruciatingly bad taste displayed in the Palace and 
the dripping gold decorations are most offensive to the 
eye. It was a lovely day and we enjoyed the outing, 
specially the little house of Peter the Great on the 
water's edge. Paravicini,* de Stumm,^ and Hender- 

1 Secretary of the Swiss Legation. 2 Attache of the German Embassy. 



302 GEORGE von L. MEYER \ - ^^^os 

son* went with us. We remarked what a contrast it 
all was, the present normal conditions, to the descrip- 
tion that was going on in the English and American 
papers. 

" July 26. — Give a dinner of sixteen to celebrate 
Julia's birthday on the 30th, as the family leave on 
that day. Petersburg continues quiet, without dis- 
turbances. A rumour has started that the Emperor in 
a Ukase will announce that all people will be equal be- 
fore the law. This act, if it were estabHshed, would 
break the backbone of the revolution and stop the 
sinews of war coming in from the Jews, and also cause 
Consols to advance. Knowing, however, how deep- 
rooted is the prejudice against the Jew in Russia and 
in the government circles, it is hardly conceivable that 
such wisdom will be shown at this time. Something 
more than promises have got to be given to save the 
throne and the nation from revolution. It will only 
be effected by great concession and sacrifices. Has he 
the courage and strength to do so? 

''July 28. — Play polo at Krestovsky; have four 
on a side. The Grand Duke Boris arrives, but is only 
too glad not to play on account of his clothes having 
been taken away. Plays tennis with Princess Susie 
Belosselsky against Schoen and Alice. They have to 
let him win, as he gets so cross if he loses. Count 
Westphalen^ and Count Csekonics give the family a 
dinner in their datcha. Excellent dinner; Henderson, 

1 Nevile Henderson, Attache of the British Embassy. 

2 Counsellor of the Austrian Embassy. 



im] AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 303 

Schoen, and Csekonics's cousin, the new Austrian At- 
tache, also present. 

"August 8. — Cable Washington that the Com- 
mittee that ordered the general strike have called the 
strike off. The failure is due to the non-participation 
of the railroads and the opposition of the majority of 
labourers to join. This makes it probably possible for 
me to get off to Kissingen early next week. The Gov- 
ernment has now had considerable experience and un- 
derstands better how to handle the situation. 

"Dinner at the Japanese legation. Consists of 
British Ambassador, and Lady Nicolson, Sir Donald 
Mackenzie Wallace,^ la Marquise de Belloy,' Comte 
de Grelle Rogier,^ his daughter, Mr. and Madame 
de Grelle, Mr. Martin,* and the Japanese staff. I took 
in the wife of the Japanese secretary, the only Japa- 
nese lady in Petersburg. She was very difficult to talk 
to, as she was very nervous. She was apparently about 
twenty-one years old. There was an old Japanese at 
the table and I asked who he was. Her reply was, 
' II est mon mari/ I should have been much less sur- 
prised if she had said, ' Mon peref 

" August 14. — Leave Petersburg with Basil Miles 
at noon, on conge for Berlin and Kissingen; at the 
latter place I am to take a cure. Cable the Depart- 
ment that I go out of the Empire to-morrow morn- 
ing; Eddy in charge. 

"After we had got an hour from Petersburg I 

lA new edition of hia Russia, first published in 1877, had been 
issued in 1905. 

2 Wife of the French naval attachS. 

3 The Belgian Minister. 

* Secretary of the French Embassy. 



304 GEORGE von L. MEYER ^^^^6 

discover that I have not my passport with me. The 

afternoon before I left I had asked to look 

through the safe to see if there was anything of mine 
in it. Had he done so, he would have found my pass- 
port in an envelope with my name written on it. How- 
ever, we telegraphed Iswolsky, Minister of Foreign 
Affairs, in Russian, as the operator would not take it 
in any other language. Later, at another station, I 
telegraphed the Embassy to see the Foreign Office, 
and have them wire to Wirballen to pass me. How 
absurd that an ambassador cannot get out of the coun- 
try without a permit from the Foreign Office! It is 
barbaric. 

"^ August 15. — Arrive at Wirballen at 6.30 Rus- 
sian time, 5.30 a.m., German. No telegrams. Little 
later the wagon-lits conductor informed me that a tele- 
gram has come with instructions to pass me over the 
frontier. . . . 

'^ Bad Kissingen, August 27. — The courier arrives 
from Petersburg via Berlin. Brings the bag from 
Washington; in it was a letter from the President, 
dated July 28. It had evidently just lost the other 
bag, and then came on a slow steamer. He says, ' Most 
Ambassadors go through their terms with only the 
chance to do respectably what any fairly good man 
can do respectably. Now the greatest piece of good 
fortune that can befall any man is to have the chance 
to do, at no matter what cost of personal inconvenience 
and risk, something worth doing; and you have had 
this great good fortune. Of course the most impor- 
tant part of your work was during the peace negotia- 



1906} AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 305 

tions, when you did so admirably; but it is evident that 
until things settle down the position of Ambassador in 
Russia is a working position with small certainty of 
hohday for the man who fills it. But, my dear George, 
you have at least the cold comfort of feeling that when 
next winter you come into the Cabinet, you have quite 
as hard and as irritating work here! 

" ' Always yours, Theodore Roosevelt.' 

" I wired Stolypin,^ ' Please accept my heartfelt 
sympathy for your affliction, and also permit me to ex- 
press my relief in hearing of your miraculous escape.' 
His little girl had both her feet blown off and his boy 
of a few years a leg broken. 

'' September 1. — I am taken to call, and pre- 
sented by Mr. Adami to Prince Christian of Schleswig- 
Holstein. He married the sister of the King of Eng- 
land. He lives in England most of the time, I be- 
lieve in Cumberland House. He was most agreeable, 
asked many questions about Russia. Asked if the 
Emperor was not a weak man. This I avoided by 
saying that he struck me as a man wanting to do the 
best for his country, but that he was terribly handi- 
capped by his advisors and surroundings. 

" Prince Christian had just come back from Ber- 
lin, where he had represented the King of England at 
the christening. He had seen the Grand Duke Vladi- 
mir and thought he looked very badly ; asked if he had 
kidney trouble. 

'' September 2. — Lunch at the Kurhaus with 

1 His assassination had been attempted August 25. 



306 GEORGE von L. MEYER f^^oe 

Prince Christian and M. and Madame Adami. The 
Prince is 76, but very hale and hearty. He was very 
frank at lunching at not liking the domination of 
Prussia in Germany. This is evidently due to two 
causes, one living in England, and the other that i 
Prussia has so overshadowed the other German king- 
doms and principalities that it has undoubtedly aroused 
their jealousies." 

To President Roosevelt 

Bad Kissingen, September 2, 1906. 
My dear Mr. President, — 

Thanks for your letter of July 28. It only reached me 
August 27 (delay in Washington and slow steamer). 

I agree with all you say, and in addition I appreciate very 
much having had the good fortune to have been associated with 
you during the peace negotiations and to have been your rep- 
resentative at Petersburg. 

It is not the work at the Embassy that is hard now, but 
the task of guessing the outcome of events. 

I should welcome your call next winter to come into the 
Cabinet, to say nothing of the honour, although you speak of 
cold comfort on account of the work being as hard and irritat- 
ing as in St. Petersburg. No comfort can be so cold as this 
climate of Petersburg. As for the irritation, I had an expe- 
rience in a small way while several years Speaker of the 
Massachusetts House, but hard work I have always liked. . . . 

The terrible and dastardly attempt on Stolypin's life 
which resulted in the killing and mutilation of thirty or forty 
people, including two of his innocent children, shows you what 
any future leader will have to contend against. The great mass 
of the Russian people are not much superior to animals with 



1906] AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 307 

brutal instincts. For many generations they have been op- 
pressed and taxed, uneducated, living without any comforts, 
barely existing. This I have seen with my own eyes. I slept 
two nights on the floor of different peasant cabins, while bear- 
shooting, only halfway between St. Petersburg and Moscow. 
If the Socialist or Anarchist can once disabuse the minds of 
these eighty million peasants of the idea that the Tsar is their 
Little Father, and that they can expect no further assistance 
from him, but must look to the people for redress, then events 
which have so far transpired would appear legitimate in com- 
parison to what would probably take place throughout the 
land. 

One must live in Russia to understand it. It is impos- 
sible to draw any conclusion from experiences and results in 
other countries. 

Every step or attempt that has been carried on in a revo- 
lutionary way has been made without reference to what has 
gone on before or what is to follow. They do not know what 
they want, except that they want everything at once — what 
has taken other nations generations to acquire. 

Professor Vinogradoff^ said the other day : *' The Russian 
Nation will realize as other nations have done before, that a 
living organization cannot transform bones and sinews at 
pleasure ; that the future has deeper roots in the past, than the 
present is inclined to grant." 

The Revolutionists have not grasped the fact that it is as 
necessary for them to have organization as for established gov- 
ernment, and strange to say, the events have not developed on 
either side a single man who could be pointed to as a leader or 
[who] stood noticeably above and superior to those about him 
sufficiently to impress himself upon the national mind as the 
man for the occasion. Consequently each reform or revolu- 
tionary party has worked for an object in its own way. 



308 GEORGE von L. MEYER t^^^^^ 

The Tsar does not seem yet to realize that in the long 
run the will of the people will eventually assert itself. Every- 
thing that he grants is done either too late or when it is self- 
evident that it is forced from him. Unless he changes his 
course and adopts a policy satisfactory to the nation, it is 
merely a question of how long the army remains loyal. 

I am taking the cure here very conscientiously, getting up, 
every morning at 6.30, drinking three glasses of water that 
taste as though they had a rotten egg broken in, and taking 
a stiff walk of an hour up a mountain before breakfast. All 
walks, however, seem tame after that one you took me outside 
of Washington last November. 

After the cure is completed here (15th September), the 
doctor wants me to go to the mountains for a short time, as 
the waters let one down. 

Rest assured, Mr. President, that if the occasion is such 
that my presence is required in Petersburg, I shall not take an 
after-cure and am prepared also to leave here in the middle 
of my cure at a moment's notice. 

Believe me, 

' Faithfully yours, 

' G. V. L. Meyer. 

[Diaryl 

" September 5. — Grand Duke Paul of Russia 
arrives with his wife. She was the wife of an officer 
in one of the guard regiments. The Grand Duke fell 
in love with her. She leaves her husband and goes 
with the Grand Duke Paul. The Emperor banishes 
him from Russia. They get divorced from their re- 
spective wife and husband and are then married. The 
Emperor has since allowed Paul to enter Russia, but 



1906} AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 309 

not with his wife. They should go to New York; they 
would find plenty of company there. 

[St. Petersburg] ''September 26. — Dine with Sir 
A. Nicolson and Lady Nicolson at the British Em- 
bassy. Interesting talk after dinner with Sir Donald 
Mackenzie [Wallace]. As I had been absent for five 
weeks in Germany taking my cure, I was not sure on 
my return, whether it was my imagination or not, but 
Petersburg appeared calmer and more tranquil. He 
assured me that it was really a fact. He knew from 
good authority that the workmen had shown decided 
evidences of being tired of being used for political pur- 
poses, and they were becoming unwilling to obey the 
order of political agitators; that some of the local elec- 
tions were returning candidates that were conservative 
and defeating Extreme Left candidates; that the 
* black hundred ' were increasing their influence, which 
goes to show people are tired and disgusted with all 
this destruction of property and murder by bombs, etc. 
If only the Government would keep its head now and 
not commit some action which would drive back to the 
ranks of the revolutionists those who were beginning 
to leave them! 

'' September 27. — Call by appointment at the 
Foreign Office at 12 o'clock on Mr. Iswolsky, the main 
object being to put before him the U. S. Government's 
plan to have Consul-Generals at large, who will be 
appointed over several countries. ... I told Iswol- 
sky that I expected early in October to go to An- 
toniny in Volhynia, and from there later on to Odessa. 
I then congratulated him on the changed atmosphere 



310 GEORGE VON L. MEYER ^^^oe 

of Petersburg, there being practically no disturbances 
now. He became quite frank and spoke of the English 
and French press, how unjust they were in the atti- 
tude they took in almost sympathizing with the terror- 
ists and bomb-throwers. Very probably the Govern- 
ment had made mistakes, but how unwisely the Cadets 
had behaved in attempting to work with the revolution- 
ists and then having that Viborg meeting, which action 
put them outside the pale of official recognition. He 
also praised Stolypin, who, notwithstanding that 
dastardly attack, had not deviated since from the 
course he had previously laid out. He thought he saw 
signs of improvement. In leaving he begged me not 
to go to Odessa or travel without first notifying him." 

Before taking the trip to Volhynia foretold in the 
preceding entry, Meyer related in a letter to his wife 
some experiences of Russian society and sport which 
are worth recording. 

To Mrs. Meyer 

St. Petersburg, October 5, I906. 
. . . Last Friday morning I again got a message from 
the Grand Duchess to come down and dine that evening. I had 
intended leaving for Narva on the five o'clock train, but 
could not again say that I was off shooting, so postponed leav- 
ing until next morning and went to dinner at Tsarskoe. Prince 
Dolgorouky and myself were bound for the same destination, 
and Prince Youssoupoff * was also on the train ; he told me 
that he had wonderful wolf-shooting outside of Moscow, and 

1 It was in the Petersburg palace of this Prince — see p. 276, ante — 
that the monk Rasputin was murdered, December 31, 1916. 



19061 AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 311 

later on, if conditions would permit, that he intended to invite 
me to go shooting there with him. 

At the Vladimirs' the guests were all assembled awaiting 
our arrival, and consisted of Grand Duke Andre, the Fersens, 
the Annenkoffs, Knorring, Hohenlohe, and one or two ladies- 
in-waiting and aides-de-camp. The dinner was informal and 
no champagne served, which is always the way when the Grand 
Duchess is there, as she realizes how bad it is for her husband. 
The ladies all walked in first, the men following after, every one 
stopping, however, in the first antecamera, in order to have 
zakuski, which consists as usual of caviar, raw fish, smoked fish, 
pate-de-foie-gras, a few petits verres of vodka, and the whisky 
which I sent the Grand Duke, which seems to be much appre- 
ciated. After dinner the Grand Duke formed his bridge tables 
as quickly as possible, as Dolgorouky and I had to return on 
the 11.07 train. The two Royal Highnesses, during the game 
of bridge, had a spat, and while they were having it out, I 
found it necessary to go and select a cigar, which took me some 
time. Countess Fersen claiming that I deserted her in the midst 
of trouble. At eleven we left for the station, and we had 
hardly got there when I saw the train approaching and another 
one coming in the opposite direction. It was necessary to get 
across the track, and as there is a drop of three feet, I without 
any ceremony jumped down and went over on to the other side. 
Poor old Prince Dolgorouky, with his long coat and sword, did 
not dare to attempt it, and it was necessary for him to go 
under the track by the tunnel. He consequently lost the train, 
the station-master refusing to hold it, and the poor old man 
had to wait till twenty minutes to one for the next train. I 
met him this morning, and he told me that he had been per- 
fectly furious and succeeded in having the station-master dis- 
missed. 

The next morning I started for Narva in the Baltic 



312 GEORGE VON L. MEYER t^ooe 

Provinces, where I went shooting with a Mr. Medhurst and 
Admiral Wirenius, Chief of Staff in the Marine Service, and 
who was also in command of the volunteer fleet that started 
from tlie Baltic Sea in the late war. He was a most charming 
old man — on one hand had only a thumb and two fingers, but 
he was able to manipulate his knife and fork in a most capable 
way, but turned out to be a very poor shot. We did not 
manage to do very well, it hailing one minute and later blowing 
very hard, and a little while later the sun coming out. 

However, we had a good outing in the woods and some 
sport. 

A most amusing incident took place. We had about forty 
girls and women for beaters, and such costumes you never saw ; 
boots that came to their knees, a soiled flannel petticoat which 
reached to the tops of their boots, a waist that was made, in 
most cases, out of an old bed comforter, no hat, but frequently 
a small shawl pulled over their heads. They worked very hard 
and were very willing. In the middle of the day we all lunched 
in the woods, a fire being made, and the beaters surrounded 
us as we sat at the fire, in order to get some benefit, and without 
any ceremony or embarrassment commenced eating their black 
bread. Ours was also frugal, but tasted very well, being sliced 
ham, potatoes cooked in the fire, bread and butter, beer and 
whisky and soda. When we had finished, we gave what was left 
to the old women among the beaters, and then Medhurst said 
to me : "I Mall show you something that will amuse you ; " so 
he called out in Russian that the four oldest women should each 
have a glass of vodka; whereupon they assembled and danced 
a weird, oriental step, crossing themselves and kneeling to re- 
ceive the glass of vodka, which they poured down their throats 
as a hackman throws a glass of whisky, keeping, however, the 
last drop to anoint their heads. As soon as they had felt the 
warming effects, they again commenced to dance in the greatest 



19061 AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 313 

spirit, a step which resembles in some respects the Hungarian 
national dance. Although the women had been tramping all 
the morning, they started off again as fresh as could be, and 
kept it up till six. Then, when their labours were over, they 
were all obliged to assemble in pairs, one standing directly be- 
hind the other, in order that they might be counted and ac- 
counted for. Their pay is only 30 kopecks a day. I told Mr. 
Medhurst to tell them that I would also give them, as a 
douceur, ten kopecks apiece additional; whereupon they all 
made a rush and formed a circle — and for a moment I dreaded 
that they were going to attempt to salute my hand, as is so 
common among the peasants. But they took it out in running 
around me and screaming in Russian : " Oh, but he is a great 
and good man ! " Admiral Wirenius, not to be outdone, then 
announced that he would make the same present to each of 
the beaters. Their joy was unbounded, and, feeling that he 
was of the same race, they made a rush for him and lifted him 
in the air, throwing him up as one tosses a man in a blanket. 
This they did several times, to my astonishment, and to his 
amusement. It exemplified, Medhurst told me, the good feeling 
that existed at one time between the peasants and the Russian 
landowners in the districts where they had always been well- 
treated. Shortly afterwards, they dispersed, chanting a song 
which you have heard the boatmen sing on the Krestovsky 
Canal. . . . 

To-morrow evening I am leaving in a private car for 
Antoniny, Potocki's place, and Stumm is going on the train 
with me. I may decide, after staying a week there, to go on 
to Odessa and Sebastopol. Should I carry out that plan, I 
shall wire Major Gibson to meet me at Odessa. 

The hunting party which Meyer joined at Anto- 
niny, an estate of Count Potocki in Volhynia, is de- 



314 GEORGE VON L, MEYER ^i^oe 

scribed with much detail in the diary — the cosmo- 
politan group, Russian, Austrian, German, Brazilian, 
American, the luxurious establishment, including even 
a photographer, — " There is one man apparently on 
the place that does nothing else," — the gaiety of it all, 
undimmed by any thought that the house itself would 
be one of the many in Russia of which not one stone 
would be left standing on another at the end of the 
war that was to come only ten years later. Meyer 
had already visited the place in the previous July, when 
he had thus described it in his journal: — 

" Antoniny is in Volhynia. None of the estates 
liave very old houses, as the country was continually 
swept and burnt by the Tartars. This place was estab- 
lished in 1803. The house has been continually added 
to, the last and principal addition being only two 
years ago. It is something like a French chateau with 
little pretensions to architecture exteriorly. You enter 
a great hall two stories high; wings run off from this 
hke the two sides of a triangle. The decorations are 
French style, Louis Quinze, etc. Everything very 
comfortable, with modern improvements in the way of 
plumbing, also every other luxury in the way of ex- 
cellent chef and fine wine, stable of sixty horses, two 
packs of hounds, pheasant shooting in the autumn, and 
riding to hounds across country. 

" The peasants have not the sad and sullen looks 
which one sees now in Russia and were very respectful, 
always taking off their hats, and when the Count 
stopped to speak to them, kissing the sleeve of his coat. 
He has a great estate with five beet-sugar factories 







tmBK^^^itK^^ 



1906] AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 315 

and one up-to-date refinery, all of which must be very 
profitable, as he keeps a tremendous establishment, 
very well carried out and well done in every detail, 
which must consume a great deal of money, although 
wages here are almost nothing. The peasants live in 
houses with no comforts, except those of squalor. 
Great contrast to Avhat you see in Germany." 

The October days of hunting at Antoniny must be 
passed over for Mr. Meyer's summary of his entire 
trip in a letter written to his wife on the day of his 
return to the capital. 

To Mrs. Meyer 

St. Petersburg, October 28, 1906. 

As Petersburg was very quiet and conditions improving 
throughout the country, I took the opportunity, early in Octo- 
ber, to travel in Russia for the purpose of seeing for myself 
the actual state of affairs. I went by one road to Odessa, via 
Vilna, passing through Russian Poland, and returned by 
another road from Sebastopol to Petersburg via Moscow. In 
this way I covered a great portion of the country from the 
60th degree of latitude to the 43rd. 

In passing through Vilna I saw about a hundred poor 
devils being escorted by Cossacks with drawn swords to a train 
of cars with grated windows. They were about to be trans- 
ported to Siberia. If they were a fair sample of revolutionists 
they were certainly not prepossessing-looking — the greater 
number being Jews. 

In Volhynia there had been some apprehension as to 
whether the peasants would haul the beet root to the various 
sugar factories, but on my arrival they had begun, as usual, 
to do the necessary work in that connection, to the relief of 



316 GEORGE VON L. MEYER f^^^s 

the proprietors. I stopped a few nights with the Potockis and 
liad to drive forty versts across country at midnight. The 
Government insisted upon furnisliing an escort of four Cos- 
sacks in relays. It was quite unnecessary, but I could not help 
admiring the way they rode their horses and the endurance 
that the animals showed. The next day I rode across country 
Avith Potocki and his pack of hounds, after hares, and the kill 
Avas in a peasant's field many miles away from his home. A 
number of the peasants assembled around us, but without any 
demonstrations of displeasure. The following day we had a 
pheasant shoot on his estate, and killed over a thousand (seven 
guns).^ I shot to my own gun 235. 

All the way to Odessa the country shows that the peasants 
were ploughing their fields and hauling loads of the beet-root 
to the station. In the city of Odessa there are more than 
150,000 Jews, being fully one third of the population. The 
first night I walked about the city with Major Gibson, our 
Military Attache, and found the streets quite deserted. The 
watchmen in the middle of the streets were placed at intervals 
of every few hundred feet, and gendarmes with loaded rifles and 
fixed bayonets were at nearly every corner. The streets were 
absolutely quiet in consequence and I saw or heard no signs of 
disturbances. The Prefect had placed two police officers at the 
door of my hotel and desired them to follow me about, but I 
requested to be spared that annoyance. The next day I wan- 
dered about the docks and found them teeming with commerce, 
steamers loading and unloading merchandise. The Jews here 
are not confined to any special quarters, although they are 
naturally more prevalent in some parts than others. 

I dined with General Baron Kaulbars, the Military Gov- 
ernor, in his palace. He had had a command in the last part 

1 " I asked Potocki what became of them all. He replied that they 
had an order for 500 from Moscow, the rest would go to Odessa and 
Warsaw." ( Diary. ) 



1906] AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 317 

of the war in Manchuria. After the Boxer troubles he re- 
turned home from China by the way of San Francisco, Chicago, 
and New York, and became an ardent admirer of America. He 
is an active, energetic man of about sixty years, but fine ap- 
pearance, and impressed me as an honourable man, endeavour- 
ing to do his duty. He told me that he intended to establish 
law and order and should punish all alike, whether Jew or 
Russian, when guilty of crime or creating disturbances. His 
energy, I think, must be due to his English mother. He was 
exceedingly frank and talked most openly. He mentioned a 
society that had been formed, "Russia for Russians," its object 
being to arouse patriotism and oppose the revolution. He 
stated in rather a pessimistic way, that if Russia was to be 
saved, it must be through patriotism, then referred to American 
progressiveness and the lack of initiative or love of work among 
the Russians. At dinner his wife described the attempt on the 
life of her husband a short time ago. It appears that the 
daughter of a General, and the former schoolmate of his 
daughter, came to see him. She had the day before lunched 
with the family. She spoke of her father's death and her 
troubles. General Kaulbars expressed so much sympathy for 
her that she broke down when he told her that she should look 
to him as her future father. Immediately after, she left the 
house, dropping a bomb on the sidewalk which only partly ex- 
ploded. She then fled to her hotel next door and shot herself 
in her room. 

It appears that she had arrived in Odessa with her lover. 
In several instances the revolutionists, in these attempts, have 
hidden behind women's skirts. They gain the affection of a 
young woman and then bind her to commit the crime. In this 
case again, the man escaped. Baroness Kaulbars said that she 
had evidently been unnerved by the General's sympathy and 
either dropped the bomb by mistake, or hoped it would destroy 



318 GEORGE von L. MEYER f^'^''^ 

her, because, as she had failed to make the attempt, she knew 
that she would be condemned to death by her own society. 

I asked Kaulbars about the class of Jews that were to sail 
shortly for America. He smiled and replied that they had seven 
million in Russia that we were welcome to. I informed him that 
I had that moralng warned the steamship agent that of the 
thousand that were shortly to be shipped from Odessa to New 
York, if any had criminal records or were unable to pass our 
medical inspection, they would have to be brought back to 
Odessa at the expense of the steamship company. 

The Military Governor showed me the whips made of 
twisted wire with a lead ball on the end which had been taken 
away from revolutionary students. They carry them hooked 
to their sleeves on the inside of their coats. He also showed 
me the Cossack whip, which is almost equally cruel, but without 
the lead ball or wire. The Prefet of the city, who was at the 
dinner, extended me the use of his box at the opera. General 
Kaulbars sent his A.D.C. and excused himself, as he had re- 
ceived a letter that morning assuring him that he was to be 
killed. He added that he did not feel it was right to expose us, 
as his would-be assassins were indifferent to the lives of others 
when using the bomb. 

At the opera General Kaulbars's brother assured me that 
while his brother was in command of Odessa there would be no 
pogroms. I found Cohen in Odessa. I had previously met him in 
Petersburg. He is investigating, as you know, the emigration 
and Jewish question. He will be able to gather a good deal of 
information, but not always absolutely reliable, as he is not able 
to stay in a place long enough to verify everything, and in most 
cases he will only hear the Jewish side. The Government offi- 
cials, in reporting disturbances, often leave out evidence that 
would be detrimental to them, and the Jews also frequently make 
statements based on rumours [of events] which have never 



1906] AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 319 

actually taken place. The facts are generally bad, without 
requiring exaggeration on either side. 

From Odessa I took the steamer to Sebastopol, which is 
a closed port, but England and Turkey still continue to hold 
their Consuls, to the annoyance of the Russians. The British 
Consul's name is Erskine. His grandfather was Minister to 
Washington in the early part of our history, and married Miss 
Cadwalader, of Philadelphia. 

We were met as our steamship came up to the pier by an 
A.D.C. of Admiral SkrydlofF's and an A.D.C. of the General 
of the fortifications. They never left our sides ; whether it was 
entirely courtesy, or due to the fact that I had a Military 
Attache with me, I will not say. They took us in the Admiral's 
steam launch about the harbour, which seemed as dead as that 
of Salem. I supposed that they were going to show us the forti- 
fications and barracks, and consequently Major Gibson's in- 
terest was getting aroused. We landed, but ended in the ceme- 
tery only — there we were permitted to walk about freely. 

Not many years ago the harbour was the scene of an at- 
tempted revolution, which resulted in the sinking of a transport 
and the burning of a new cruiser which had just been on a trial 
trip and constructed as fireproof. On that occasion the red 
flag suddenly appeared in the streets of Sebastopol, and who- 
ever met it was compelled to raise his hat. About three months 
ago Admiral Skrydloff succeeded Admiral Chuknin, who had 
been shot in the garden of his villa, by a sailor whom he had 
befriended and made his gardener. The present commander, in 
speaking of the disturbances, remarked that they would never 
succeed as long as the mutineers were unable to induce the 
officers to join. Admiral Skrydloff was the officer sent out to 
Vladivostok to take command of the flying squadron. He got 
drunk out there (nothing very rare in the Russian Navy) and 
was not permitted to take command. 



320 GEORGE von L. MEYER f^^^« 

The previous British Consul had taken rooms in the top 
of the highest dwelling-house. Soon afterwards he was re- 
quested to change his domicile because It commanded a view of 
the fortifications. The Panorama Building, containing a paint- 
ing of the French storming the fortifications, is on the highest 
point of land adjoining the city. The officers who accompanied 
us politely opposed my ascending to the top of the building, but 
as I insisted, they could say no more. I found that when I got 
up there it gave a complete view of the fort and the new forti- 
fications constructed in late years, which explained their objec- 
tions. The next day we drove eighty versts to Yalta, on the 
Crimean coast, stopping at the battlefield of Balaclava. I can 
now understand why Lord Cardigan made that charge — it 
was an ideal, long, smooth field, for a hunting man such as he 
was, accustomed to ride to hounds. 

The coast, after one passes the Gates of Baldai, is much 
finer than the Riviera, and reminded me somewhat of the drive 
from Sorrento to Amalfi. Much attention is being paid to the 
cultivation of the grape and they are producing an excellent 
wine, in which the royal family have a very large interest. 

At Yalta I was escorted by a company of Tartars dressed 
as Cossacks to the Palace of the Emperor at Livadia. It is an 
ideal place, beautifully laid out, and formerly belonging to the 
Potockis. From there I drove over the mountains to Bakchi- 
serai, an ancient Tartar capital on a military road 80 versts 
long; and for the first time in Russia I saw a road really prop- 
erly constructed and such as one might find In France. The 
ascent Is very gradual and through beautiful forests, but one 
rises finally to the height of 4,000 feet. From Simferopol, 
where my car was awaiting me, I proceeded to Moscow. There 
I had the good fortune to be invited to lunch by the Grand 
Duchess Serge,^ who is living in the Kremlin Palace. She in- 

iBorn Princess Elizabeth of Hesse. 



1906} AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 321 

formed me that her interests were no longer English or German, 
but she had become entirely Russian in her sympathies and 
ideas. You will remember that she was born German and her 
mother was English. She is very beautiful and has great charm 
of manner. The amount of money which was expended on the 
addition to the Kremlin Palace after Napoleon's departure 
from Moscow, which took sixteen years to construct, must have 
been something stupendous. This expenditure, and the in- 
numerable treasures in gold and silver in the various IMoscow 
churches would go very far towards paying the war debt. One 
cannot help feeling what a pity it is that some of this money 
has not been spent in educating and improving the conditions 
of the hundred millions of peasants, many of whom live in a 
manner fit only for animals. 

Except for the armed gendarmes in the cities of Moscow 
and Odessa, and troops stationed in two of the railway depots, 
nowhere had I seen the slightest sign of disturbances or evidence 
of revolution. The people appeared peaceable and industrious, 
according to their mode of life, and we were treated with cour- 
tesy and consideration wherever we went. By this I do not mean 
to imply that disturbances or troubles are over. I think it is only 
a lull and that now the minds of the people are taken up and 
occupied with the coming elections. My own impression is that 
the Duma, when it assembles next March, will be fully as radical, 
if not more so, than the last one. 

With a great deal of love for the girls and yourself, ever, 
Your affectionate, 

Husband. 

[Diaryli 

" October 28. — Arrived in Petersburg at 10 a.m. 
It was quite cold, water in the fields had frozen during 
the night. 



322 GEORGE von L. MEYER t^^^^ 

" It struck me as I drove to the hotel through the 
Nevsky that the street seemed very deserted for that 
time in the morning. When I reached the hotel I 
learned that while 600,000 roubles was being trans- 
ported through the city, Saturday a.m., some men sur- 
rounded the wagon, which was being guarded by half 
a dozen soldiers and threw a bomb, and in a few sec- 
onds a second. This smashed all the windows in the 
opposite houses and caused a stampede. In the con- 
fusion the money was seized by the conspirators and 
handed to a woman, who drove off instantly in a car- 
riage. Shots were exchanged, but the thieves escaped 
with half the money, about 300,000 roubles. 

" I visited the place in the afternoon and found 
very little damage was done except to the windows, 
and evidently the bombs that were used were meant 
to frighten rather than to injure, which was exactly 
the result accomplished. 

" Call on Lady Nicolson and find the Ambassador 
and Sir Donald MacKenzie [Wallace] there also. 
They all wanted to know if it was true that they were 
going to lose me and I was going home to enter Presi- 
dent's Roosevelt's family. 

" November 5. — The American papers arrive an- 
nouncing that it is official — the changes in the 
Cabinet. Cortelyou to become Secretary of the 
Treasury; Bonaparte, Attorney General; myself Post- 
master General; Metcalf, Secretary of Navy; and 
Straus, Commerce and Labour. The latter is a Jew, 
and [it is] the first time a Jew has been in a Presi- 
dent's Cabinet. I had imagined that I was to be 



m6] AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 323 

Secretary of the Navy, as that was the original plan, 
Bonaparte to Moody's place, and I to slip into that 
of Bonaparte. Postmaster General outranks Secre- 
tary of Navy, but I do not believe it will be as inter- 
esting. The cost of maintenance is about $200,000,000, 
and I believe the deficit for the year [is] about 
$11,000,000, due chiefly to the second-class matter. 

"November 16. — Dine with Mrs. Napier and 
Colonel Napier.^ Prince von Biilow, in his speech at 
the Reichstag on the modern diplomat, said the diplo- 
matist who keeps in touch with banking and commer- 
cial circles, who knows how to deal with the press, who 
numbers influential members of Parliament and men 
of affairs among his friends, will have a great advan- 
tage over his colleagues. The man who succeeded was 
more commonly the man who could turn the situa- 
tion to best account. There was such a thing as 
* mimickry ' in diplomacy, and he sometimes advised 
young diplomats to take for their model Alcibiades, 
who was intellectual with the Athenians, ate black 
broth with the Spartans, and wore flowing garments 
among the Persians. The profligacy of Alcibiades 
need not be imitated, but faculty of adaptation did 
not imply lack of character or exclude real patriotism. 
The diplomatist ought not to be guided by precon- 
ceived notions or fixed sympathies or enmities. 

" November 23. — The German Emperor the other 
day at Munich, in talking with the novelist Ganghofer, 
spoke in praise of optimism : ' I myself work on with- 
out being disheartened and I believe I actually make 

1 Military Attache to British Embassy. 



324 GEORGE von L. MEYER t^soG 

progress.' He praised Ganghofer's remark in a novel 
that ' the man who is suspicious wrongs others and 
injures himself.' 

" Clemenceau a few days later in an interview said, 
* I do not want any war and if one does not want war 
one wants good relations.' 

" Pichon, the new minister of Foreign Affairs, said 
the next day, ' I really do not see why we should not 
have good relations with Germany.' All this may 
have a good effect. 

" December 3. — Dine at the Marquise de Belloy's. 

*' Gurka, assistant Minister of the Interior, dis- 
missed — on account of the scandal of [$?] 10,000,000 
food contract for delivery of wheat in the famine dis- 
trict. The contract was given to one Lyndal to fur- 
nish the grain, and $400,000 advanced. The party had 
never dealt in grain before, but in plumbing materials. 
It is a severe crack at the Cabinet, and much political 
capital is being made out of it. The Emperor has 
appointed a committee to investigate. 

" December 4- — Find a cable when I return to 
my room this evening from T. Jefferson Coolidge 
reading, ' Heartiest congratulations.' I suppose this 
means that the President has sent my name to the 
Senate for the Cabinet position of Postmaster General. 

''^ December 5. — Conger of the Associated Press 
informs me that he has a dispatch saying that the 
President sent to the Senate all the names of the 
members — the new members — of his Cabinet, in- 
cluding myself, and that of Moody for the Supreme 
Bench. 



I ^^^^J AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 325 

''December 11, — Meeting of the Yukki Club. I 
was reelected President, and we increased the mem- 
bership to 40. 

" Receive a very nice letter from the President, 
in which he thanks me for interesting letter and says 
I know Russia so well now that when I enter the 
Cabinet (not later than March 4) he will no longer 
have to give it a thought. It is most satisfactory writ- 
ing him; he is so appreciative. With the State De- 
partment you get a three-line acknowledgment, with 
not even contents noted." 

Before leaving Russia Meyer, in his capacity of 
sportsman rather than diplomat, had experiences of 
elk-hunting and wolf-shooting, in company with Prince 
Youssoupoff, of which the diary made full record. 
The second, and more elaborate of these is described 
in a letter home. 

To Mrs. Meyer 

St, Petersburg, December 28, I906. 
. . . We had a most interesting trip on our shooting 
expedition. We left Petersburg on the evening of the 19th, 
arriving in Moscow the next morning. Prince Youssoupoff and 
I went to his house, a wonderful palace built in the time of John 
the Terrible. The walls are about four feet thick and the rooms 
are all vaulted. It takes up an entire block, with a garden sur- 
rounding it. You enter the courtyard, which is bounded on 
three sides by the house and stable, and drive under an arch 
where the formal entrance is, by an outside stairway with 
stone steps. There we inspected the house and freshened up 
our toilets, previously to proceeding to the dog show, of which 
he is President. We attended the formal breakfast in the expo- 



326 GEORGE von L. MEYER i^^oe 

sition hall, and I saw a new class of Russians, made up of only 
sportsmen, who are always good fellows. 

In the afternoon we visited the antiquary shops, dined at 
the Metropole, and left by the night train for the heart of 
Russia, the Grand Duchess Serge having left word, as she was 
then at Tsarkoe Selo, that on our return we were to lunch or 
dine with her in the Kremlin Palace, 

The Government had furnished me with a private car and 
Prince YoussoupofF had his also. The entire party consisted 
of ten. Prince Youssoupoff, Trepoff (the brother of the 
General who died this summer), and myself, lived together in 
YoussoupofF's car, where we also had our meals, he having his 
chef along with him; and the rest of the party were domiciled 
in my car, so-called. 

We arrived beyond Briansk in the afternoon of the follow- 
ing day, and there we hunted for three days without any suc- 
cess, driving through the most magnificent forests, the trees 
laden with snow and the aspect at times really superb. We 
were so warmly clad that one never suffered from the cold. 
Sometimes we lunched in a peasant's house and sometimes in the 
open forest. We came across wolf tracks but never were able 
to surround them, and finally found that some of the Govern- 
ment foresters were doing what they could to hinder our suc- 
cess, on account of enmity to Youssoupoff's head chasseur. 

On the fourth day we visited another section of the coun- 
try and met with success, killing three wolves — the largest and 
finest specimen I had the good fortune to shoot; and I am 
having the same sent to Moscow to be stuffed and mounted. 

The next day they shot two more, but I was laid up 
in the car and unable to leave. I thought for twenty-four hours 
that I was in for pneumonia. The cause, I think, was that, the 
night before, the Prince had given a ball to the peasants; the 
atmosphere in the so-called hall was something fearful, and I 



1906] AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 327 

think I Inhaled a germ, because the next night I thought I 
should suffocate and burn up, and it seemed difficult to breathe. 
For the first time, I think, in my life, I really was frightened 
for a few hours. It is an awful feeling to be so far from home 
and so far from civilization when taken ill, as I was on that 
occasion. However, Youssoupoff was one of the nicest of men, 
and all those with him were most sympathetic. I fortunately 
had with me my little medicine case which you had given me 
and which contained phenacetine and quinine. . . . and 
arrived in Petersburg again with a normal temperature. Of 
course as we passed through Moscow yesterday, although my 
temperature was then back to almost normal, I knew it would 
be unsafe to go out, and remained in the car, and consequently 
was unable to attend a lunch at the Grand Duchess Serge's. 
... I forgot to say that, while on our shooting expedition, 
they gave me a very pleasant surprise, which quite touched me, 
in the way of a little Christmas tree decorated for Christmas 
Eve, after dinner. It was very well done and reminded me of 
home and all of you and what you were doing at that same 
time. . . . 

Meyer's eagerness to return to America, once the 
conclusion of his Russian service was in sight, did not 
blind him to the good reasons for his prolonged term. 
On January 7, 1907, he wrote to Mrs. Meyer: — 

I think it would interest you very much to read Theodore 
Roosevelt's " Gouverneur Morris," — you will find it in my 
American Statesmen Series ; the part which covers his visit to 
France, his sojourn in Paris as Minister, and his life in Paris 
afterwards, considering the time in which he lived, make it full 
of interest. Some of the events have repeated themselves in 
Russia, and I can understand how anxious the President was 
to have me here in case of trouble, when one recalls how, in his 



328 GEORGE von L. MEYER [^^07 

book, Morris stayed at Paris through the Reign of Terror and 
Washburne in Paris during the Commune. The press had filled 
the minds of the public and the people in Washington with the 
idea that the same events were going to transpire here, and 
consequently his desire to have me on hand. 

On the 16th he wrote again to his wife: — 

I cannot realize that I am really getting away. Schoen, 
the German Ambassador, is to notify the German Emperor that 
I arrive in Berlin the first of February, in order to arrange an 
audience for me. Captain Hintze, the German Naval Attache, 
and Aide-de-Camp of His Majesty, told me he was sure the 
Emperor would want to see me, as he always spoke so friendly 
of me. 

Day before yesterday the Diplomatic Corps were received 
by the Emperor and the two Empresses, the whole Diplomatic 
Corps being taken down in a special Imperial train to Tsarskoe 
Selo, over the Emperor's private line. At the station a special 
court carriage was waiting for each Ambassador, and we drove 
in single state to the palace, the rest of the Diplomatic Corps 
being doubled up. We all ranged up in the oval salon in a circle^ 
and at half-past three the doors were thrown open and the 
Emperor entered, with the Dowager Empress on his right and 
the Empress on his left. The Empress was en grande beaute, 
and I would not have known her as the same person as a year 
ago. The Emperor talked for a long time with the American 
Embassy and told me how much he admired the President's 
forcible, straightforward way of expressing himself in his mes- 
sages.^ With the Empress I had quite a long conversation, 

1 " While talking with the Emperor," Meyer wrote in his diary for 
January 14, " I said I hoped that the bright sunshine of this New Year's 
Day was a happy omen for the events of the New Year. ' You Icnow,' he 
said, ' I believe a good deal in those signs, especially of nature,' This 
shows somewhat the simplicity of his character and disposition." 



m7] AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 329 

joking and laughing. When one considers the different state 
of affairs existing here from a year ago, it is not surprising 
that she should appear like a different woman. Then revolution 
was rampant and the disruption of the Empire openly talked 
of. Conditions are not perfect yet, and the terrorists are 
singling out special individuals, but conditions as a whole have 
improved. 

" Not perfect yet " seems mildly to describe Rus- 
sian conditions as reported by Meyer in a letter to 
Senator Lodge a few days before those words were 
written: " For the last few weeks there have been as- 
sassinations by the terrorists every six days, and there 
is cm-iosity, as well as anxiety, among the Russians, 
to know who will be the next. Between February, 
1900, and November, 1906, the terrorists have killed 
or injured by bombs, revolver, or assault, 1,937 officials 
and important persons, including one Grand Duke; 
67 Governors General, Governors, and town prefects; 
985 police officers and policemen; 500 army officers and 
soldiers; 214 civil functionaries; 117 manufacturers; 
and 53 clergymen." 

The full record of Meyer's last days in St. Peters- 
burg would disclose an extraordinary round of fare- 
wells. It need not be followed in detail. A statement 
of his plans and engagements in a letter to Mrs. 
Meyer, written January 19, will suffice to indicate 
what occurred. 

To Mrs. Meyer 

January IQ, 1907. 
I shall try and sail on the 16th or 17th of February. 
The Department having sent my letters of recall so late gives 



330 GEORGE VON E. MEYER t^^''^ 

me very little time to turn round in. They should arrive next 
week, Wednesday or Thursday, 23rd or 24th. Nothing can 
be done about my final audience with the Emperor until they 
have actually come to hand, and I am to notify Iswolsky imme- 
diately on their arrival. The Ceremonies know the whole story, 
and they are to have their letters all ready to send out to the 
necessary officials at a moment's notice. I shall probably 
arrive in Berlin February first, and in that case shall go to 
Tower's fancy-dress ball that evening. There is a ball at the 
palace the night before, which I have no desire to attend, as I 
would much prefer to have my audience privately with the Em- 
peror of Germany, if it can be so arranged. 

Night before last was the Vapahofsky dinner-dance, which 
was a great success. The Bohemian band from Ernest's played 
divinely. Last night the Huenes gave me a farewell dinner. 
To-night the Princess Youssoupoff. Sunday night a party at 
the ballet. Monday night the members of the Austrian Em- 
bassy give me a dinner at Ernest's, and my Russian friends 
give me a dance and supper afterwards at the same place. 
Tuesday night Baroness Ramsay gives a dinner. Thursday 
night the German official reception. Also a lunch in my honour 
by the Japanese Legation. Friday night dinner at the Fiirsten- 
bergs. Saturday night at the British Embassy. Sunday 
Countess Bobrinskoy has a domino party. To-morrow we all 
hope to go out to Yukki for Sunday. 

Though not literally fulfilled, these were the chief 
items in Meyer's private programme. There were, be- 
sides, his final audience with the Tsar and an inter- 
view with Iswolsky, Minister of Foreign Affairs, of 
which the journal makes record as follows: — 

"January 26. — Leave the Hotel at 1.20, in order 
to take the train at 1.50 for Tsarskoe Selo. At the 



i9on AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 3311 

station (Imperial) in Petersburg, Prince Dolgorouki, 
Baron Korff, Baron Ramsay and his assistant were 
waiting at the station to receive me. We entered a 
special Imperial train, and were taken over the Em- 
peror's private line direct to Tsarskoe Selo. At the 
station, a gilded coach with four chestnut horses, an 
outrider, and two footmen on behind were waiting for 
me. We started without any delay, and I noticed that 
a mounted guard rode on each side of the coach; this 
was for style on this occasion and not for safety. 

"At the Little Palace (the same one where I was 
first received by His Majesty, and also on a memora- 
ble occasion when I entered privately by his own 
entrance direct to his study in order to give him con- 
fidentially the President's invitation to send Plenipo- 
tentiaries to Washington for a peace conference with 
Japan) masters of ceremonies had assembled, and 
again, as on the first occasion, we marched in formal 
procession to the Emperor's apartment. In the ante- 
room Princess Galitzine and Count Benckendorff^ re- 
ceived me, and after a short salutation the two black 
servants in Oriental costume threw open the doors, 
and for the last time I was in the presence of the Em- 
peror and Empress. 

" I bowed in the doorway and again after I had 
approached halfway. The Emperor put out his hand 
and then the Empress. In the latter case I kissed 
hers, according to the custom. The Emperor and Em- 
press then sat down and the Emperor signified for me 
to sit on the Empress's right. Before we sat down, 

1 Marshal of the Imperial Court. 



332 GEORGE von L. MEYER ti907 

however, I had handed my letter of recall to His 
Majesty and informed him that the President had seen 
fit to recall me to Washington in order to enter his 
Cabinet. He asked me about my new post, and said 
that he was sorry to have me leave, but was glad to 
feel that there would be in the President's Cabinet not 
only a friend, but one who understood Russia and how 
difficult the problems were to solve. He thought that 
in the United States the Secretary of the Interior 
would one day be, as in Russia, one of the most im- 
portant Cabinet positions. He seemed much interested 
in the future decision of our Courts as to the right 
of the State of California to make its own school 
regulation, and thought the decision would be far- 
reaching. He also spoke of the elections in Germany 
and of their importance. A decided victory by the 
Socialists would encourage the Socialists everywhere. 
I remarked what a part the German Socialist had 
taken in the first great strikes in this country more 
than a year ago. 

" We talked for half an hour on various subjects, 
in which the Empress joined, and asked about the 
height of our buildings in New York. They seemed 
incomprehensible and unnatural to her. In taking 
leave the Emperor asked to be remembered to the 
President, and the Empress to my wife. They both 
expressed the hope of seeing us again and our return 
some day to Russia. 

" January 27. — On my return from Tsarskoe 
Selo yesterday afternoon I found a letter from 
Iswolsky and a box. The latter was addressed to 



1907} AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 333 

' G. von Lengerke Meyer, Esqr.,' and said that the 
Emperor had conferred the Grand Cordon of St. 
Alexander Nevsky upon me. As I was now a simple 
citizen, I was able to accept it, and wore the decora- 
tion that Saturday evening, but not the Grand Cor- 
don, to the dinner at the Embassy, as it would have 
been too gala to have put on the ribbon too. I found 
Benckendorff, the Russian Ambassador to London, 
had done the same way. . . . 

" Sunday, by appointment, I called on Iswolsky 
at the Foreign Office to express my appreciation of 
the honour conferred upon me. I found him most 
frank and interesting about the situation in Russia. 
Speaking of the Emperor and Empress, he said, 
' They are over-sanguine ; I am continually trying to 
combat the influence of the Empress and the Grand 
Duchess Serge. They do not appreciate the actual 
conditions or understand them. They do not beheve 
in further concessions, nor do they realize that this 
liberal movement for Constitutional Government is 
very far-reaching and must be recognized. I know 
and understand that we cannot go backwards. 

" ' As you know, I am liberal, but they say in 
the Cabinet to me, "You have lived so much abroad 
that you have got permeated with foreign ideas and 
therefore cannot see and understand the Russian situa- 
tion." I feel that our troubles are far from being 
over; the new Duma may be an improvement over the 
first, but it will be radical, and it is doubtful whether 
the Government will be able to work in conjunction 
with it. 



334 GEORGE von L. MEYER C^^^^ 

** ' Now as to our negotiations with Japan, as you 
are no longer Ambassador I am going to be very 
frank with you and tell j^ou what I would probably 
not say to you if j-ou were still in your official capacity. 
But I should like you to consider it confidential and 
only to be repeated to the President. Throughout the 
entire negotiations the Japanese have been most exact- 
ing, and I find myself in a very embarrassing situa- 
tion and almost helpless, as our army has practically 
evacuated Manchuria, which is not the case with 
Japan. We are ready to carry out our agreements at 
Portsmouth; nor have we any desire now for aggres- 
sions of countries in the East; but our aim is to have 
conditions in statu quo, so that the balance of power 
shall remain unaffected. 

" ' Our two principal contentions with Japan are 
the fishing rights, which they claim beyond what could 
naturally be expected, and the claiming of open navi- 
gation on the Sungari River, which was not raised at 
Portsmouth.' 

" He realized that Japan, claiming open naviga- 
tion, was apparently taking a position that was popu- 
lar, but that Russia could not grant she had the right 
to this on account of the Portsmouth Treaty. Now 
then Japan was demanding that Russia should concede 
the privilege to Japan of making special commercial 
treaties with Korea and countries beyond the Malay 
Straits, which should not apply to the most favoured 
nation clause of treaties with other nations, this not to 
become effective until treaties with other nations ex- 
pired and this principle [should be] accepted by them. 



1907} AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 335 

" ' Now,' he went on, ' I have in my position got 
to make the best bargain that I can, and I am going 
to give in on this point and, although it is not effec- 
tive until agreed to by the other nations, yet it is the 
small end of the wedge, and it shows the world that 
Japan proposes to reserve for herself a portion of 
the Eastern trade; and where, then, will be the Open 
Door of which so much has been said by Japan? 

" ' I have seen about the school question raised by 
Japan on the Pacific Coast, and the change of feeling 
there Rosen has reported to me fully. I would now 
like to have you report to the President not only the 
position in which Russia finds herself in these pour- 
parlers with Japan, but also the evident intention of 
Japan to reserve for herself in trade and commerce 
certain sections of the East, that is, the portion beyond 
the Malay Straits.'" 

On Tuesday, the 29th, having made his ofiicial fare- 
well to the Dowager Empress and Grand Duke 
Michel, and having dined with the Grand Duke and 
Duchess Vladimir on the 28th, Meyer took his depar- 
ture from Russia. " Left at noon for Berlin," he 
wrote in his diary; "the Diplomatic Corps and a host 
of my Russian friends who presented me at the station 
with a beautiful coq de bruyere carved from malachite, 
and on a paper the names of the donors (38).^ I 

iThe list of the donors accompanied this gift. The names it contains 
are given here for their suggestion of Mr. Meyer's personal friendships 
in Russia: Prince and Princess S. Belosselsky, Prince and Princess Orloff, 
Prince and Princess YoussoupoflF, Prince and Princess M. Cantacuz&ne, 
Comte and Comtesse Fersen, E Orloff, S Orloff, M. Schevitch, Princess 
Mestchersky, Prince P. Mestchersky, V. Annenkoff, M. Annenkoff, S. Hall, 
A. Hall, Princess V. Galitzine, Comte and Comtesse Mengden, Comte and 



336 GEORGE von L. MEYER t^sor 

leave devoted and charming friends with feelings of 
strong attachment and with regret." 

Before taking ship from England to America, on 
February 20, three weeks and a day later, Meyer had 
seen and talked with the German Emperor, the King 
of Italy, and the King of England. These interviews, 
following his audience with the Tsar on the Saturday 
before his leaving St. Petersburg, provided what may 
well be the unique experience of personal meetings 
with the four leading monarchs of Europe, each in his 
own capital, within the space of three weeks and three 
days. It was the part of the helpful ambassador to 
return to his country as well informed as he possibly 
could be, from the most authentic source of informa- 
tion, regarding European affairs. This is what Meyer 
accomplished in his last month in Europe. In Berlin, 
Rome, and London — especially in Rome — he re- 
newed many personal friendships. The record of these 
experiences in his diary, however, must give place to 
his accounts of the interviews with Kaiser Wilhelm, 
King Victor Emanuel III, and King Edward VII. 
As in St. Petersburg his interview with the Tsar had 
been followed by a talk with Iswolsky, Minister of 
Foreign Affairs, so in London, it should be noticed, he 
talked with Sir Edward Grey, Secretary for Foreign 
Affairs, before his audience with the King. 

" [Berlin] February 3. — Lunch with the Em- 
peror and Empress at the Palace in Berlin at 

Comtesse G. Bolirinskoy, Baron and Baronne Huene, Comtesse S. 
Woroutzoff, A Biilacheff, Comte and Comtesse T. Nieroth, C. Warpak- 
hovsky, Prince S. Dolgoroukv. Baron and Baronne Ramsay, O. S6r6- 
briakoflF, M. Sdrdbriakoff, D. de Benckendorff, A. Nicolaeff. 




THE MALACHITE COQ DE BRUYERE PRESENTED TO 
jMR. MEYER BY RUSSIAN FRIENDS 



mn AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 337 

1 o'clock. Arrive at ten minutes before 1. The 
guests were assembled in one of the ante-rooms; sev- 
eral of them I had met before, the Hatzfeldts, Eulen- 
burg, Flotow, also the ladies-in-waiting. Prince Adal- 
bert came in before 1, and while we were talking, as 
my back was to the door, he suddenly said, ' The 
Emperor.' I turned round and His Majesty was just 
entering the door. He shook hands with me as he 
passed and went on to greet the ladies. Then the Em- 
press entered by another door. She went round the 
room, saying a few words with each person, and the 
gentlemen kissing her hand. When lunch was an- 
nounced the ladies went in first, the Emperor, the 
Princes, and the rest of us following. 

" I found my seat was next to the Princess Alex- 
andra Victoria of Holstein, engaged to the fourth son 
[August William], Oscar, who was on the other side, 
being on the left of the Empress, Adalbert being on 
the right. On the right of the Emperor were Princess 
Hatzfeldt, and on the left Princess Oetingen. There 
were twenty-four people at lunch, including the sixth 
son ^ of the Emperor and the young daughter,^ who 
must be about fourteen now, grown quite tall. 

" Lunch being finished, the Empress led the way 
to one salon while the Emperor indicated that the men 
were to follow him to his smoking-room. I noticed 
that the young Princes went with the Empress. 
After we entered the smoking-room I stayed near the 
door as I did not want to be the first to talk with 

1 Prince Joachim. 

2 Princess Victoria-Louise. 



838 GEORGE yon L. MEYER ^^^oj 

His Majesty, but preferred to be the last. He looked 
round the room and immediately beckoned me to come 
forward, saying, ' You always used to smoke,' and then 
offered me a cigar. I then took the opportunity to 
congratulate him on the result of the elections. His 
eyes became very bright, and tapping me on the 
chest he said, ' We caught the Socialists this time. 
It became not only the question of a Colonial policy 
but a patriotic one, and they did not take this into 
account. This morning I received telegraphic infor- 
mation that the Socialists have lost four more on the 
second elections.' 

" I then informed the Emperor that I had my 
farewell audience with the Emperor of Russia a week 
ago yesterday and I had spoken of the elections in 
Germany which were taking place, and that I hoped 
the Socialists would receive a set-back as their success 
would encourage the revolutionary element in Russia. 

" The Emperor asked me my opinion of Iswolsky, 
saying, ' Can he be trusted ? ' I answered that I did 
not know him as well as I had known Lamsdorff, but 
that my relations had been veiy agreeable and satis- 
factory; that Schoen,^ his Ambassador, was quite inti- 
mate with him and should be able to judge. I men- 
tioned that I had been impressed by Russia's clever 
move in ordering the withdrawal of Russian troops 
ahead of the Japanese, but that I thought in that 
action I saw the influence of some one outside of Rus- 
sia. The Emperor smiled and said, — 

" ' The Tsar did ask my advice, and I thought it 

1 Baron Schoen, afterward German Ambassador to France (1910-14) 



J9071 AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 339 

very important for Russia to keep China, her neigh- 
bour, good-natured and not allowed to become too 
friendly with Japan. As a matter of fact, Russia will 
lose Siberia, and the Tsar agrees with me. The 
Japanese are so much more active that they will over- 
run it with colonists and traders and commercially 
own it. 

You are certain eventually to have a war with 
Japan; they will attack you through the Philippines 
by sea, and Europe by land through Siberia, etc. 
Russia was attacked by the Japanese just as she had 
completed the Siberian Railroad and you, the United 
States, will be attacked as you are about to complete 
the Canal. You should have fortified Hawaii, and 
must get your fleet on the Pacific side. The Japanese 
have spies everywhere, disguised as servants, etc., they 
know all about your fleet and fortifications. I have 
furnished through Speck ^ statistics about the Japanese 
for your President. The school question in California 
is only an excuse. You see how they feel on your 
Pacific slope; it is a racial question.' 

" Then the Emperor suddenly changed the topic, 
saying, ' You know that the Kjng and Queen of Eng- 
land have gone quite unexpectedly to Paris. Clemen- 
ceau's Cabinet is not as strong as it was; the King 
bought him and owns him, and he had gone on to 
Paris to hold him up and strengthen him. Iswolsky 
was invited on to London during his trip this autumn, 
but the Emperor instructed him not to accept. Eng- 
land does not like to see Germany increasing good 

1 Baron Speck von Sternburg, German Ambassador in Wasbington. 



340 GEORGE von L. MEYER t^^^^ 

feeling with France and the tendencies which are 
bringing Germany and Russia together. They should 
really have an alliance. 

" ' England made an alliance with Japan which 
will prove to her final disadvantage; dissatisfaction is 
already showing commercially. If her treaty with 
Japan should compel her to fight with Japan for in- 
stance against you, you would lose almost at once the 
Philippines, but in revenge you would take Canada. 
The natural people to come together in such a conflict 
would be the Germans and Americans. 

"'It is not time to consider disarmament; if that 
is to be forced at The Hague, I will not send repre- 
sentatives. Stead, of the Review of Reviews, is trying 
to force it before the Conference and asked for an 
audience, but I have refused it. When I saw the King 
of England last summer, it was arranged beforehand 
what we were to discuss. Lascelles ^ and Hardinge 
were present. Unexpectedly the King talked of The 
Hague Conference and said, " We do not want it, 
there is no need of it, it interferes with our royal 
prerogatives." You should have seen the expression 
on Hardinge's face. Evidently the King and the 
Cabinet are out of accord on The Hague questions, as 
Grey wishes disarmament discussed.' 

" The Emperor referred to the conscript system 
which began in Prussia when Germany was overrun 
by Napoleon and has existed and been perfected since 
that time. Other countries are now copying but have 

1 .Sir Frank Cavendish Lascelles, British Ambassador to Germany, 
1895-1908. 



won AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 341 

not made the same success of it. . . . He then asked 
what steamer I was going on. When I said Kaiserin 
Augusta Victoria, 'Oh! She is a wonderfully fine 
boat. I will send you a letter for the President if I 
can get it finished in time. Now we had better join 
the ladies.' 

" The entire time had been taken up talking to- 
gether; I am afraid that some of the other gentlemen 
were not very pleased, not getting a chance to say a 
word to him. We were only a moment with the ladies. 
As I left he said, ' Do not forget my regards to your 
wife and the young ladies, and if you are starting for 
Rome take food and a pistol in case the train is blocked 
by the snow and you are attacked.' " 

" [Rome] February 7. — Had my audience with 
the King of Italy in Rome at 2.15 to-day. Arrived 
at the palace at 2.10, but I was not kept waiting a 
minute. The doors were instantly thrown open and 
the King came forward to the door and shook hands 
very cordially. He sat down on the sofa and beck- 
oned me to sit down. I took the second chair, but he 
insisted on my sitting in the arm-chair next to him. 
He at once spoke of my going into the Cabinet and 
added, ' I understand that it [the Postmaster General- 
ship] has more political influence than any other 
Cabinet office.' I thanked him for his congratulations 
and assured him that I beheved it should be run on 
business principles in order to give the best serv- 
ice. . . . 

" He wanted to know if I had met his two sisters- 



342 GEORGE von L. MEYER ti907 

in-law ^ and added that they used to be very hand- 
some. He was much interested in the Russian situa- 
tion, but did not hesitate to express his opinion of the 
Emperor, which is not of the highest. He has not for- 
given the Tsar for breaking his promise and not visit- 
ing him. Again he told me how he promised Nehdow ^ 
that when in public he would never leave the Tsar's 
side in order to protect him by his presence. Nelidow 
wanted the papers suppressed, as was done in Peters- 
burg. This, the King said, could not be done, as his 
was a constitutional monarchy and anything of that 
sort must proceed in the regular way through the 
courts. 

" "When I told the King of my two-hour talk with 
the Emperor he said, ' I saw considerable of him when 
in Russia, and it was often his habit after a person 
had left him to snap his fingers and even make fun 
of what had transpired.' He also criticized liis having 
been influenced by that spiritualist Phillipe.^ Fortu- 
nately he was dead, as his influence was very detri- 
mental to the best interests of the country. ' He (the 
Tsar) shuts himself up from fear, and how can he 
form any real judgment when he comes in contact 
with no men of affairs or liberal spirit? ' 

" He agreed with me that affairs could not go back- 
wards, and said, ' In '48 we had troubles and granted 
a constitution, but our people were more enlightened 

1 The sisters of Queen Helena, Melitza and Anastasie, princesses of 
Montenegro, the wives, respectively, of the Grand Duke Peter-Nikolaie- 
vitch, and George, Duke of Leuehtenberg. 

2 Russian Ambassador to Italy, 1897-1903. 

3 A French spiritualist, who preceded Rasputin in the favor of the 
imperial family. 






i907] AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 343 

and knew what they wanted.' I referred to the small 
amount spent by Russians for public education. The 
King replied, ' We spend in proportion a great deal 
more than Russia.' 

" On the question of disarmament he thought Ger- 
many would make a mistake to oppose the considera- 
tion of it at The Hague, but would be wiser to get 
France or some other country to take that attitude, as 
the German Emperor was already suspected of being 
warlike and so disposed. 

" The King then asked me if it was true that I 
was taking an autograph from the Kaiser to the 
President. I said that I had not received it as yet, 
but the Emperor, if he had the time to finish it, was 
going to send it to the German steamer, Kaiserin 
Augusta Victoria, for the Captain to hand me. I 
should take the boat at Cherbourg or Southampton 
the 17th.' 

" I then told the King that I had felt I could not 
go home without coming down to Italy to take leave 
of my friends, that I had a tremendous attachment for 
Rome and the Campagna, and for me Rome was the 
most beautiful city in the world. He smiled with a 
certain expression that is peculiar to him when he is 
pleased. The King was very amusing about the Par- 
liament and the new constitutional government in 
Montenegro; said the Cabinet had fallen on an ap- 
propriation of $62.50. At the end of half an hour, 
and after a most agreeable conversation, he excused 
himself as he had another appointment, and then 

1 Mr. Meyer sailed several days later, on another ship. 



344 GEORGE von L. MEYER t^^^^ 

wished me every success in my new position at home 
in the Cabinet." 

" [ London] February 15. — Called at 11 a.m. at 
the Foreign Office, Downing Street, on Sir Charles 
Hardinge, now permanent Under-Secretary of Foreign 
Affairs, formerly my colleague at St. Petersburg. He 
was not down yet — his secretary said that he would be 
in a little before 12; not very early hours, — if I should 
attempt to keep such hours in Washington, it would 
not be appreciated. Return at 12 and am received 
almost instantly. Found Hardinge looking very well 
and most cordial. I told him what Stead had said in 
Berlin and in what an emphatic way he was quoting 
Sir Edward Grey. Whereupon Hardinge asked if I 
would like to meet Sir Edward and talk with him 
myself. He went upstairs and in two minutes re- 
turned, escorting me himself to the Minister of For- 
eign Affairs and introducing me. 

" Grey did not look over 40, although I believe he 
is about 45, clean-shaven, clean-cut face with a very 
straightforward manner and an attractive personality. 
I told him that I had not wanted to quote his words 
to the President about disarmament, coming as they 
did at Berlin through Stead, without being sure (from 
him direct) that they were absolutely correct and not 
exaggerated, and knowing as I did that the Emperor 
of Germany was opposed to the subject being brought 
up at this time in the Hague Conference. 

" Grey said that in the first place he did not like 
the expression ' disarmament,' but rather ' limitation 



1907] AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 345 

of expenditure for armament.' He did not expect 
anything practical to be accomplished in that respect 
at the Hague Conference more than publicity and edu- 
cation of public sentiment. In England the matter 
had received considerable attention, and it was there- 
fore important that the movement should be taken 
into account and receive some sort of recognition. If 
the Hague Conference neglected even to consider the 
question, the impression would go out in the world, 
that the hands of the clock had been set back and no 
earnest endeavour had been made. Consequently he 
did not think any one nation should hold back the Con- 
ference from considering the question. 

" Of course if Germany should refuse to send dele- 
gates, provided the question was to be considered, 
it would lose its principal object; for while they rec- 
ognized Germany's right to build as large a navy as 
their commerce required, at the same time they were 
stronger considerably than the German navy, and they 
intended to continue to be so. That was a policy which 
either party recognized as necessary, for they had a 
small army and Germany a very big one, magnifi- 
cently organized. If Germany also got a larger or 
even equally powerful navy, they [Great Britain] 
would be, in their isolated position, accessible by sea, 
at the mercy of Germany provided any adverse wave 
of sentiment or incident should bring on a war. Thus 
this continual striving of Germany to increase her 
navy, and England's necessity to continually keep her 
navy stronger, must have its effect on the other na- 
tions' expenditure. If Germany would agree to limit 



346 GEORGE von L. MEYER t^^^^ 

her expenditures to what they had been, England 
would agree to keep hers to a limit, so that the pro- 
portion would not change and each would keep to the 
present ratio of force. 

" I told Grey that in my hour's conversation with 
the German Emperor [he never?] showed any suspi- 
cion of England on account of urging disarmament, 
but was [alive?] to a genuine feeling of uneasiness 
of a future yellow peril by the ascendancy of the 
Japanese and a possible coalition with the Chinese. 
Consequently he did not think the present the time to 
discuss disarmament. 

I " On leaving he asked to give his compliments to 
the President and to be remembered to Mr. Root. On 
returning to Hardinge we chatted together about 
Russian affairs, and we both agreed that Russia 
by her game of bluff on Eastern matters could only 
blame herself for England finally making an alHance 
with Japan. Hardinge then called my attention to 
how much better England had kept herself informed 
in the past as to Japan; in fact in '93, when matters 
became strained, their naval experts said to fix it up, 
as they were in no position, so far from their base of 
supplies, to contend against the Japanese navy, and 
matters were therefore arranged. If Russia had been 
as well informed she would not have allowed the war 
to take place. Hardinge agreed that Japan will be 
a much more dangerous competitor commercially than 
even Russia would have been in the East, and that it 
was already beginning to be felt. 

" February 19. — Go to Dorchester House at 



1907} AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 347 

11.30 in order to go to the Levee with Carter^ and 
the Military Attache ; the Ambassador " being in his 
room with influenza. We drove at once in the Am- 
bassador's carriage to St. James's Palace, where in the 
ante-room were assembled the Diplomatic Corps and 
the members of the Government attending the Levee. 
(St. James's Palace has not been used as a dwelling 
since the Georges.) I found a number of the Diplo- 
matic Corps were old acquaintances, Sir Edward Grey 
was there. Lord Lansdowne, Sir Charles Hardinge, 
etc. — with each of them I had a short chat. Carter 
presented me to Monsieur Cambon,^ who as Doyen 
was to present me to the King in the absence of the 
American Ambassador. I spoke of how much his 
brother had been hked in Washington and congratu- 
lated him on his brother's advance to Berlin. M. Cam- 
bon, being the Doyen, led the procession and I fol- 
lowed, by his instructions, directly behind him. After 
he had made his bow and shaken hands with the King 
he presented me. After I had made my bow the King 
nodded a second time as I withdrew — the King, 
standing, shaking hands with each ambassador, with- 
out making any remarks, and they passed on, standing 
to the left of the throne in the corner of the room. 
After the last ambassador had passed, the King sat 
down and bowed to each minister without shaking 
hands, and they passed on to the end of the room. 
Then came the members of the government, army, 

ij. R. Carter, First Secretary of the United States Embassy in 
London. 

2 Whitelaw Reid. 

3 Paul Cambon, French Ambassador in London. 



348 GEORGE von L. MEYER t^^''^ 

navy, and those who were attending the Levee, so that 
there was a constant stream of people always moving 
on till the last was presented. The name in each case 
was announced by the master of ceremonies. While 
all this was going on I had quite an extended talk with 
Poklewski, the Conseiller of the Russian Embassy, 
who wanted to know what was to be the attitude of 
our government on disarmament and if there had been 
any changes. I told him that I could not give him 
any official information, as it was three weeks since 
I left St. Petersburg, and since then I had not been 
in communication with my government. 

" At 2.45 the Ambassador's carriage arrived to 
take us to Buckingham Palace. J. R. Carter, First 
Secretary of the Embassy, went with me. We were 
met by Lord K[nollys?]. In about two minutes 
word came down that the King would see us. Im- 
mediately after we had reached the King's sitting- 
room. His Majesty entered unaccompanied. I bowed 
as the King came forward and shook hands with me. 
Turning to the other gentlemen he said, ' I should like 
to have a talk with Mr. Meyer,' and they retired in- 
stantly. He then led the way to the other end of the 
room, invited me to sit, taking an easy chair him- 
self. 

" ' So you have just left St. Petersburg, and are 
going out of the Diplomatic Corps. I suppose you 
are sorry: it is a fascinating life.' This gave me an 
opportunity to say that while I had been Ambassador 
and in the diplomatic [service] we had all looked up 
to him, if I might say so, as the ideal diplomat and 



i907] AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 349 

the greatest of ambassadors. He seemed quite pleased 
with the comphment and smiled with a certain pleas- 
ure and probably with satisfaction as he thought of 
the Entente Cordiale (for which he had done so much) 
between England and France. 

" He asked me about the Emperor, how he looked, 
and if it was true that the Empress and her sister, 
the Grand Duchess Serge, had a bad influence over 
the Emperor as far as reforms, etc., were concerned; 
also inquired if the two Montenegrins were intimate 
with the Empress, adding, ' I hear they are always 
scheming.' His Majesty knew of the divorce of the 
Duchess of Leuchtenburg, but wanted to know if they 
would really be married (she and Grand Duke 
Nicolas.)' 

" Finally, after we had discussed conditions for 
some time, he said suddenly, ' What opinion did you 
form as to the outcome, and what would happen? ' I 
replied that I had informed my government for some 
months that I believed the Duma would be radical, 
that I did not think that it would work in unison with 
the Cabinet, that probably the Duma would profit by 
the experience of the first Duma, because they realized 
that the Government dared to dissolve the Duma, and 
the troops as a whole were loyal; that the country was 
one of great resources, but capital was timid and enter- 
prise restricted. I had confidence in the final out- 
come: it could not go backwards, but it would take a 
long time. 

" His Majesty then spoke of the Hague Confer- 

iThey were married about two months later. 



350 GEORGE von L. MEYER ti907 

ence, and said he had no confidence in its accomplish- 
ing anything, evidently having no high opinion of it, 
which coincides with what the Emperor of Germany 
had told me. 

" I told him how well Nicolson ^ was doing in St. 
Petersburg, and also called His Majesty's attention to 
how Durand ^ had developed after he had announced 
his retirement and what good speeches he had made. 
* Yes,' said the King, ' It was quite remarkable. I 
hope Bryce ^ will do well. I believe you all like him. 
It seemed best to make a change. I have never met 
your President, but I have a great admiration for him, 
for his friendly and cordial feeling for Great Britain, 
which she heartily reciprocates for America. I know 
that Germany is making up to your country and is 
more than anxious to make and create the closest ties ' ; 
whereupon he laughed. I, recognizing what was im- 
plied, answered that while America desired to be on 
friendly terms with aU nations, it was contrary to our 
policy to form any alliances. 

" ' Yes,' he added, ' good understanding and bonds 
of friendship are much wiser.' 

" After asking me to extend his cordial greeting to 
the President and saying he was glad to have had 
the opportunity to renew our acquaintance, His 
Majesty rose and said good-bye, wishing me a bon 
voyage/' 



1 Sir Arthur Nicolson (now Baron Camock), British Ambassador to 
Russia, 1905-10. 

2 Sir Henry Mortimer Durand, British Ambassador to the United 
States, 1903-6. 

3 British Ambassador to the United States, 1907-13. 



1907] AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA 351 

Meyer took the Teutonic the next day at Liver- 
pool, and arrived in New York, March 1, with an 
equipment of European experience of rare value to 
one whose work for the next six years was to be that 
of a Cabinet Officer in the administrations of Presi- 
dent Roosevelt and President Taft. 



Ml. 



V . 
POSTMASTER GENERAL 

(1907-1909) 

It was on Friday, March 1, that Meyer landed in 
New York on his return from Russia. He imme- 
diately communicated by telephone with the White 
House in Washington, and learned, as his diary puts 
it, that " the President wishes me to come on to 
Washington this evening and report to him and get 
acquainted with my new duties, which I shall have to 
take up on Monday." This energetic programme, be- 
fitting a member of the Roosevelt Cabinet, he put into 
effect. 

The new duties awaiting him were in marked con- 
trast with those of an ambassador. The mastery of 
detail inseparable from an administrative task of the 
first magnitude was essential to its successful per- 
formance. Hardly less important was the exercise of 
a political sagacity for which " wisdom " may be the 
better term, since it concerned relations, not only with 
an army of office-holders, subject to a great variety 
of political influences, but also with the entire public 
in its most nearly universal point of direct contact with 
the Government. It is only necessary to observe how 
every failure of postal administration is seized upon for 

363 



mn POSTMASTER GENERAL 353 

complaint, to realize the importance of its satisfactory 
conduct. 

For both of these elements in his new work Meyer's 
experience had well prepared him. His earlier busi- 
ness training, of general rather than specific value 
to him in his ambassadorial posts, was now to be 
brought into vital play. His years abroad had trained 
his capacity to see things in the large, to appreciate, 
for a single example, the far-reaching public advantage 
of such an institution as the postal savings-bank, to 
the establishment of which his energies were so largely 
devoted. The detailed record of his actual work in 
this and other directions of improvement in the postal 
service — through speeches, writings, and appearances 
before Congressional committees — is of limited gen- 
eral interest. Some of the results of his labours, and 
the methods employed for their achievement, will be 
related in due course. His own record of the years 
now under review, especially his diary, afford many 
passages in which the operations of the Roosevelt Cab- 
inet — and " tennis cabinet " — are significantly re- 
vealed. Beside their suggestions of the personality of 
the chief whose character and example meant more to 
Meyer than any similar influences in his life, they 
show a delightful relation of friendship and confidence 
between the two men, to be counted to the credit of 
both. 

On Meyer's first day in Washington, March 2, his 
diary contains the first of many entries of the same 
character: " Call on the President at 10.30 and have 
a long and interesting conference with him; go over 



354 GEORGE von L. MEYER t^^^^^ 

the situation at Petersburg, Berlin, and London, re- 
porting the conversations that I have had with 
Iswolsky, the Germah Emperor, Sir Edward Grey, 
and the King of England. Desired me to come and 
dine in the evening and repeat the same to Root. 
. . . The President and I dine in the White House 
at 8 alone. . . . Root comes in after dinner and 
we talk over disarmament, or rather, as Grey 
prefers the expression, the limitation of armament 
expenditure." 

On the third day, March 4, Meyer formally took 
over the»Post Office Department from his predecessor, 
Mr. George B. Cortelyou, who then became Secretary 
of the Treasury. On -the 5th he attended his first 
Cabinet meeting, and commented upon it: " There was 
great humour shown at times in the meeting, which 
made it most interesting and relieved the stiffness of 
what would naturally be a most formal occasion." 
On the 6th he noted his first entire day at his new 
work, and added : " At noon message comes from the 
AVhite House that the President wants me to walk 
with him at 4.30 and to put on old shoes. I know 
what that means! " The walk of more than two years 
before was not forgotten — nor was all the vigorous 
exercise to come foreseen. On this day also he noted 
the fact of moving into 1709, New Hampshire Avenue, 
the house he was first to occupy in Washington, where 
his wife and family joined him on the next day, March 
7. Later they lived at Connecticut Avenue and S 
Street, and during Meyer's secretaryship of the Navy, 
on Scott Circle. 



1907} POSTMASTER GENERAL 355 

Mr. Taft, his colleague as Secretary of War in the 
Cabinet he joined, and his chief when he himself be- 
came Secretary of the Navy, has said in conversation, 
that a striking characteristic of Meyer in the admin- 
istrative posts in which he had occasion to observe 
him was his thorough learning of the job he had to do 
before he undertook to do it. His first months in 
Washington were devoted in large measure to this 
process of getting at the essentials of his task. His 
lopping off of the unessentials is indicated by the two 
following passages from his diary : — 

"April 16. — I informed the President jokingly 
that it was a constant embarrassment to me to be called 
* General Meyer ' merely because I was Postmaster 
General. Why was not ' Secretary of the Posts ' 
much better ? * By George ! ' he cried, ' I believe I 
will recommend that the Attorney General be known 
as Secretary of Justice and you Secretary of the 
Posts.' I wish he would. 

"April 17. — Called my Assistant Secretaries to- 
gether to-day. Shall probably establish the custom 
of having joint meetings (like a council meeting) once 
a month. Have also arranged that they can see me 
individually between 12 and 1 every day. Gave out 
an order that I was not to be addressed as ' General ' : 
no more right to the title than a cabman or any other 
individual not in the army." 

The next day he wrote: "The papers have taken 
up and approved my order stopping the use of the 
title of ' General ' for the Postmaster General or his 
assistants." Meanwhile the noting of a newly awarded 



356 GEORGE von L. MEYER t^^'^^ 

contract for the making of stamped envelopes, at a 
large saving to the Government, gave evidence of 
early results from the labours to which he was apply- 
ing himself with a diligence indicated by the entries: 
" The work I find very confining and exacting. Stay 
down at my office until about 6.30 every day " ; and 
" Get away for the first time before 6 p.m." With 
the coming of warm weather he wrote : " Begin riding 
every morning at 8 a.m."; and tennis at the White 
House and afternoon rides with the President and his 
intimates in Rock Creek Park began to figure in the 
daily routine. 

Immediately on his arrival in Washington he had 
noted his thanking the Japanese Ambassador for the 
honour the Mikado had paid him, in recognition of his 
work in Russia, by conferring upon him the Order of 
the Rising Sun; and about two weeks later had re- 
corded his receiving from the Italian Ambassador the 
insignia of the rank of " Cavaliere di Gran Croce deco- 
rato del Gran Cordone dei SS. Maurizio e Lazzaro," 
bestowed by the King of Italy motu proprio — the 
highest honour he could confer upon a foreign citizen. 
Now, the duties of a citizen with large responsibilities 
in his own country confronted him, and into these and 
their attendant pleasures, he plunged with character- 
istic zest. The abundant record of it all, in diary, 
private and official correspondence, and public state- 
ments, leaves one with the clear impression that a cab- 
inet officer may occupy himself quite as fully as an 
ambassador with social pursuits, and at the same time 
must perform a vastly greater amount of hard work. 



mn POSTMASTER GENERAL 357 

None but the most vigorous could compass it, and 
the constant regard to physical fitness which Meyer 
and other colleagues of the President shared with him 
stands self-explained. A few extracts from the diary 
will speak for the active months before the heats of 
midsummer dispersed the official society of Wash- 
ington. 

" May 11. — Ride with the President, Root, and 
Lodge ; go way out on the Potomac. The French- Am- 
bassador and Madame Jusserand were out in the park 
near the hurdles. The President put his horse over 
the 3-foot stone wall and the 4-foot hurdle. Then he 
turned to me and said that we would jump them 
together, which we did. Lodge said my horse jumped 
in much better form. He was carrying, however, 
about 30 pounds less. After that, without realizing 
what effect it would have on the President, I put my 
horse over the 5-foot jump. I had no sooner done it 
than the President went at it. His horse refused, so 
he turned his horse, set his teeth, and went at it again. 
This time his horse cleared it well forward, but 
dragged his hind legs. Lodge was very much put out 
that the President had taken such a risk with his 
weight. I appreciated that it was my fault, for the 
President said, ' I could not let one of my Cabinet 
give me a lead and not follow.' 

" May 12. — Ride in the afternoon with the Presi- 
dent, Mrs. Roosevelt, and Cabot Lodge. We took a 
long ride of nearly two' hours and a half. I rode most 
of the time with the President. He spoke of our work 
since graduating at Harvard, and said, ' We both will 



358 GEORGE von L. MEYER t^^o^ 

be able to retire at fifty, having really done and accom- 
plished something, and'^can look back with satisfaction. 
I have the greatest contempt for certain men ' — 
mentioning names — ' who have done nothing in their 
lives and never will.' He showed me to-day that he 
had never wavered in his intentions to retire at the end 
of this term as President. I got him to promise that 
in his farewell address to Congress he would not say 
anything which would so commit him that later in life, 
if the people called him, he could not consistently 
accept a nomination after one or two terms had inter- 
vened. I have a conviction that the country will want 
him again." 

Meetings with the Duke of the Abruzzi, then visit- 
ing America, gave occasion for many entries in the 
diary through May and June. As a former Ambassa- 
dor to Italy it was but natural that Meyer should 
extend to him the hospitality of his houses both in 
Washington and in Hamilton. It is enough in this 
place to accompany them only on visits to Mount 
Vernon and to the Jamestown Exhibition on " Georgia 
Day," when Meyer, leaving Washington on the Dol- 
phin as the guest of Mr. Metcalf, Secretary of the 
Navy, joined the President's party on the Mayflower 
and witnessed an impressive ceremony. 

''May 21. — Go to Mount Vernon on the May- 
flower — arranged by Secretary of the Navy for the 
Duke of the Abruzzi. I arrived at the Na\'y Yard at 
the appointed time, 12.30. The soldiers were drawn up 
by the Commandant, and as I ahghted from the car- 



mn POSTMASTER GENERAL 359 

riage they presented carms, and on reaching gangway 
the bugle-call was sounded. In addition to the Duke 
there were the Italian Ambassador and his staff, the 
Andersons, Wilsons, Cowles, Miss Elkins, Alice, Mrs. 
Metcalf, Julia, my daughter Alice not being expected. 

" The sail down was delightful, part of the time 
being occupied with lunch. When we reached the tomb 
of Washington, the Prince placed at the head a large 
wreath of orchids. I was much impressed with the 
simplicity of Washington's tomb and the fine trees 
that surround it. At the Mansion House we were 
received by the Regents. The Duke gave his arm to 
the presiding lady, and on the lawn a ceremony was 
performed of H.R.H. planting a tree. Next we were, 
taken over the house and then to the garden with its 
beautiful box hedge, its fragrance actually perfuming 
the air. 

" The day was completed by a lovely sail up the 
river to Washington on board the Mayflower to the 
Navy Yard. When it was built it was supposed all 
vessels would be able to come up, as the channel is 
twenty feet deep. But no big cruiser or battleship 
will ever see it now. 

'' June 11. — Yesterday, 10th, quite a strenuous 
day. Called at 6 a.m. in order to be transferred to the 
S.S. Yankton, which was to take us down the bay 
eight miles below Point Comfort in order to board the 
Mayflower with the President and his party. This 
was accomplished at 8 a.m. Besides the President and 
Mrs. Roosevelt the Mayflower carried the Cowleses, 
Douglas Robinsons, the Lafarges. Our party con- 



360 GEORGE VON L. MEYER t^^^^ 

sisted of the JMetcalfs, French Ambassador and 
his wife, the Dutch Minister and Madame van 
S[winderen], and the George Vanderbilts. 

" As the Mayflower was sighted by the fleet, a 
salute was given of 21 guns. As we approached the 
fleet, it was a sight which made a great impression 
and was really grand, the magnificent line of sixteen 
battleships which appeared to be anchored from a rope 
drawn from one end to the other, so carefully had the 
anchors been dropped. These huge machines of war, 
looking immaculately white with the sailors in white 
duck strung out from bow to stern, gave only a slight 
idea of [their] might and power. It was the French 
ships that saluted first (21 guns), the President 
acknowledging the same from the bridge, at the same 
time the ' Star-Spangled Banner ' being played, and 
so on, as we went down the lines, each vessel (nearly 
40) firing 21 guns. We had all taken the precaution 
to put cotton in our ears. When we passed the Bra- 
zilian ships, they did not wait and fired directly at the 
President's boat (the Mayflower). They say that the 
Captain of the Brazilian man-of-war while here in- 
tended to pump water into his engines, but made a 
mistake and pumped it into the ship! 

" As soon as the Mayflower came to anchor, the 
admirals of our ships, according to their ranks, and 
those of the foreign fleets, came on board in full uni- 
form and paid their respects to the President, returning 
to their ships in a few minutes. After that we in turn 
departed and all proceeded to the Jamestown Expo- 
sition, which is now called by every one * the Imposi- 



mn POSTMASTER GENERAL 361 

tion.' Still nothing finished, and does not look as 
though it would be before the Exposition is over. We 
were conveyed in carriages to the grand stand. On 
the President's arrival, the Governor opened the cere- 
monies and introduced the President, who made a most 
excellent address of about an hour. Then came the 
review of the cadets, midshipmen, sailors from the 
foreign fleets, and about 3000 from our own ships; at 
the end the state troops or militia. 

*' This had taken until 2 o'clock. The next move 
was to the Georgia building, where we were told we 
were to lunch with the President as the guest of the 
State of Georgia. The confusion was beyond words, 
no one in control, and what was worse, no signs of 
lunch. Finally a room was opened large enough to 
hold about 20 people and seats for 12 ! The President 
told the ladies to sit down, and seeing that there were 
only about six loaves and two fishes and no baskets, I 
took the Duke of the Abruzzi and his aides, with the 
Italian Ambassador, to the Swiss restaurant, where, 
after some difficulty, I managed, with the help of a 
naval officer, to obtain a table and from a waiter some 
ham sandwiches and excellent beer. I told Abruzzi 
that there was just as much difference in the way 
things were done in the North and South of my coun- 
try as in the North and South of Italy. He smiled 
and said he quite understood. 

" Late in the afternoon it began to rain and blow, 
and I got to the S.S. Varese [of the Italian Navy] 
from the Dolphin with some difficulty. The Duke's 
guests at dinner were the Elkinses, General Grant and 



362 GEORGE von L. MEYER t^^^'^ 

his wife, and Mrs. Kernochan and the Italian Ambas- 
sador. During dinner the band played selections from 
' Tosca ' and other Italian operas. The Duke makes 
a most charming host. 

" The illuminations on all the battleships were 
superb, but one could not sit on deck and enjoy it on 
account of the rain." 

Later in the month a significant meeting with the 
President at Oyster Bay is recorded. 

" June 27. — Arrive in New York at "1 a.m. 
Breakfast at the Knickerbocker Club, take the 10.50 
train for Oyster Bay. On the train was the Chinese 
Minister, the Norwegian Minister and his naval cap- 
tain, a sculptor, and an author. At the house we found 
Secretary Metcalf, Captain Wainwright of the Naval 
Board, and Captain Witherspoon of the General Staff 
of the Army. 

" After lunch, when the other guests had left, with 
the exception of the Chinese Minister, who was led 
away to a parlour by Mrs. Roosevelt, the President took 
the Secretary of the Navy, Captain Wainwright, Cap- 
tain Witherspoon, and myself to his study. Handing 
me a report he said, ' Read that to begin with.' It 
was a report of the General Staff as to our fortifica- 
tions, etc., and naval bases, in case of war with Japan. 
The first matter discussed was the transferring of our 
battle fleet of 16-18 ships to the Pacific, which was 
decided as advisable. It was also agreed that our 
armoured cruisers in the East should be joined to the 
battleship fleet in the Pacific; Subig Bay should be 



19071 POSTMASTER GENERAL 363 

fortified, and not Manila. Finally the President an- 
nounced that ' if war does come after I am out of the 
presidency, I have decided just what sort of a regi- 
ment I shall raise of rifle men from the Rockies.' He 
meant it. Details were gone into and instruction given 
as to acquiring supplies for the Army and Navy, the 
President saying, ' I propose that the country shall 
not be caught unprepared if a war should come on.' 

" I returned with Secretary Metcalf on the Yank- 
ton. Raising anchor at 4.30, we reached the N.Y.Y.C. 
pier in the East River at 7.30. Found Bey waiting 
for me at the Knickerbocker Club, where we all dined 
together. He left for Boston on the midnight and I 
for Washington." 

Returning again to Washington a few weeks later, 
Meyer was met at the station by his private secretary, 
Dr. John A. Holmes, who showed his own pleasure 
in handing him a letter just received from the Presi- 
dent, containing the following paragraph, which must 
indeed have encouraged the new Cabinet Officer : — 

And now, my dear George, I trust it is not necessary for 
me to say what a keen satisfaction and comfort I have taken 
out of your being Postmaster General. You are one of the 
Cabinet Ministers upon whom I lean. You always spare me 
trouble, you never make a mistake, and you are a constant 
source of strength to the administration. 

Ever yours, 

Theodore Roosevelt. 

Before Meyer met the President again he had taken 
a vacation in Canada, at the salmon-fishing club on 



364 GEOKGE von L. MEYER t^»07 

the Restigouche, where he often sought and found his 
most refreshing hohdays. Even there he seems not to 
have forgotten what he had recently said to an inter- 
viewer, — " Only the poor can limit their labours to 
eight hours a day," — for on his return he had so far 
formulated his plans for the Post Office Department, 
to be embodied in his first Annual Report, that he 
could announce them to the public. On the eve of so 
doing he paid a visit to Oyster Bay, thus reported in 
his diary : — 

" August 12. — Leave for New York on the one 
o'clock train. Hon. Wm. H. Taft gets on at Provi- 
dence and joins me. 

" Dine on the terrace at Sherry's together at 7.30. 
[Taft] explains the details of his speech which he is 
to make en route to the Pacific, previous to sailing for 
Manila. 

" To-morrow we are to go down to Oyster Bay to 
see the President. Taft arranges to call for me at 
the club at 10.30 a.m., the train leaving at 10.45. 

" Tuesday, 13th. — We reach Oyster Bay at noon, 
and we are immediately surrounded by newspaper re^ 
porters and innumerable questions slung at us, which 
we avoid answering directly. Fortunately we are hur- 
ried away in an automobile; but cameras snap us at 
almost every corner. 

" The President greets us with great cordiality, 
and without any delay we sit down before lunch and 
talk politics. 

" The financial situation is considered, as well as 
the political, as regards the future. The President 



mn POSTMASTER GENERAL 365 

stated that Lodge had covered the case when he said 
that Roosevelt's friends could not make him accept 
another nomination, but his enemies might! 

" The President went on to say that he thought 
things were shaping themselves so that Taft would be 
nominated by the Republicans. As regards New York 
State, he thought the serious question was the can- 
didacy of Hughes. If Hughes were nominated he 
would not carry out the so-called Roosevelt policy 
because it was known as Roosevelt. As to Cortelyou, 
he did not consider it as a serious movement. Of 
course, he was in a delicate situation. If he said to 
Cortelyou he ought not to be a candidate, then Cor- 
telyou would have the feehng that he had been pre- 
vented by the President from possibly becoming Presi- 
dent of the United States. This was best to avoid, 
especially as he did not consider it imminent. 

" Root arrived at 7 o'clock, and as there were sev- 
eral matters to be gone over, the President asked Taft 
and myself to stop to dinner and return to New York 
by automobile. The Japanese situation was thor- 
oughly canvassed. Japan, it is believed, has made 
some arrangement with Colombia as a base, in case 
of war with us. Root thinks we must from now on 
show a courteous but firm attitude to Japan, or else 
she will misunderstand and think that we are afraid 
of her. He does not like the spirit that she is show- 
ing towards us in connection with the seal fishermen 
that were shot poaching. 

" The President congratulated himself on the fact 
that he had ordered the battle-fleet to proceed this 



366 GEORGE von L. MEYER f^^^^ 

autumn (probably in November) to San Francisco, as 
it has stopped the war talk. It will sail via the Straits 
of Magellan, and when it returns, which will probably 
not be for a year, it will come by Suez and the Medi- 
terranean, thus giving a world-wide demonstration of 
our naval strength. 

" The President reported that Sternburg had been 
to see him and announced that the Emperor author- 
ized him to say that in case of trouble with Japan, 
they (Germany) would furnish us with a base of 
supplies. 

" It was decided that Taft should return over the 
Siberian R.R., stop over a day at St. Petersburg and 
a couple of days at Berlin, see the Emperor, and sail 
from Bremen or Hamburg for New York. 

" Taft and I left in the auto from the President's 
house. Oyster Bay, at 9.30 p.m., and arrived in Jersey 
City at 11 P.M., when we were met by a number of re- 
porters. I informed them that the Postmaster of New 
York would be announced the next day — Mr. Mor- 
gan, the present Assistant Postmaster of New York." 

On the next day Mr. Meyer, visiting the New York 
Post Office, gave out a programme of improvement 
in postal matters which represented the serious study 
he had been devoting for more than five months to the 
problems of his office. It was the very programme 
elaborated in his first Report, pubhshed in the follow- 
ing December. Its chief points were an extension of 
the usefulness of the parcel posts, especially on rural- 
delivery routes, the establishment of a postal-savings- 



mn POSTMASTER GENERAL 367 

bank system, the reduction of foreign letter-postage 
from five cents to two. Besides these conspicuous re- 
forms, there were other proposals of obvious advan- 
tage to the public in its dealings with the mails. It 
could not be expected that all of the changes advo- 
cated would instantly come to pass. " Penny post- 
age " between England and the United States had 
long been an object of international desire. Its 
accomplishment, through the cordial cooperation of the 
British authorities, in a little more than a year from 
the time of Meyer's announcement of his intention to 
work for it, was a signal achievement of his administra- 
tion. In his plans for the extension of the parcel post 
he had to encounter the serious opposition of express 
companies and country merchants, who thought they 
foresaw the destruction of their business through the 
encouragement of the mail-order houses in large cities. 
Much misapprehension of facts through a large portion 
of the public had to be removed by means of a cam- 
paign of education, to which Meyer applied himself, 
through all the means at his command, with great as- 
siduity and effectiveness. Since 1907 national legisla- 
tion has greatly reduced the cost, and increased the 
limit of permissible weight, for the transmission of 
merchandise through the mails. Meyer must be cred- 
ited with the foresight and energy which imparted to 
this great improvement in general business and public 
convenience much of the impetus which has brought 
about the existing results. His correspondence, 
speeches, and published writings on this subject alone 
constitute a notable monument of telling work. 



368 GEORGE von L. MEYER f^^^^ 

But of all the improvements in the postal service 
with which he was identified, the establishment of the 
national system of postal savings-banks stands most 
clearly to his credit. Since 1871 successive Postmaster 
Generals had urged the adoption of this plan in various 
forms, without avail. Meyer's own observation of the 
workings of the system in the countries of Europe in 
which it had long been established had shown him its 
value. On taking charge of our own postal service, 
he caused the successful operation of the system in 
Canada to be made the subject of expert investigation. 
He brought together figures showing the amount of 
savings which immigrants from various European 
countries were sending home annually to the postal 
savings institutions of their native lands. He saw the 
value of encouraging thrift in this element of the popu- 
lation, and of taking advantage of its natural trust in 
the agencies of our government. As a man of business, 
he realized also the advantage of capitalizing for the 
public treasury the large sums of money otherwise 
hoarded or sent out of the country. The merits of his 
plan were obvious, but the powerful interest of the pri- 
vate savings banks, fearing curtailment of their own 
appeal to the savers of small sums, opposed it for a 
time with vigour. Here again there was a crying 
need for education. Meyer made himself the man who 
could best meet it. He mastered the subject thor- 
oughly, presented it with tact and force to Congres- 
sional committees and public meetings of many kinds, 
took every occasion to present it to the readers of the 
country, engnfr/yd the President and his colleagues of 



1907] POSTMASTER GENERAL 369 

the Cabinet in its support, overcame the opposition of 
Speaker Cannon and others to its endorsement in the 
Republican party platform, and had the satisfaction 
of seeing his foundations for this piece of work so 
securely laid that, not long after the end of his term 
as Postmaster General, the Postal-Savings System was 
established by authority of an Act of Congress ap- 
proved June 25, 1910. 

During the months while Meyer was formulating 
the policies of his postal administration, he was also 
establishing his own methods of daily work in the De- 
partment. It has been seen that he did not spare him- 
self in making it hard work. For his dealings with his 
subordinates there is direct testimony to the effect that 
in controlling an organization shot through with the 
complexities of personal political ambitions he dis- 
played a fairness, firmness, and consideration which 
won him the hearty support of the army of postal 
employees of which he was commander-in-chief. There 
was a notable absence of complaints from the carriers' 
and other associations, and from the public. The work 
of the office went forward without congestion. There 
were frequent consultations with responsible chiefs 
whom he trusted, and did not nag. 

A significant episode in personal relationships oc- 
curred one summer in his entertainment of his private 
secretary at his fishing club in Canada. The secretary 
was introduced to his friends there as merely another 
friend, who said to his chief, before the holiday was 
over, " Why, Mr. Meyer, people would think you 
were my secretary from the way you have treated 



370 GEORGE yon L. MEYER ^^^^^ 

me." It is easy to understand that the atmosphere 
in which such relations could exist was conducive to 
the best results in the accomplishment of work. These 
results, according to a characteristic personal habit of 
Mr. Meyer's, were most surely achieved when he did 
his own work on his feet, instead of sitting at a desk. 
Before the end of his first year in Washington the 
furnishings of the Massachusetts State House, then 
undergoing alterations, were sold at auction. Mr. 
Meyer bought the high carved desk which he and many 
a predecessor had used as *' Speaker of the House," 
had it moved to Washington, and habitually used it, 
first in the Post Office, then in the Navy Department, 
as the " stand-up '* table at which most of his daily 
work was done — a sjToibol both of association and of 
vigour. 

The multiform processes by which the work on 
behalf of Postal Savings and all the other tangible 
performances of the Postmaster Generalship were 
brought to pass do not lend themselves readily to bio- 
graphical record. They must rather be assumed as a 
substantial background of arduous labour than pre- 
sented in detail. For the immediate purpose it is better 
to turn to Meyer's diary and a few of his letters. 
These will reflect many episodes of his daily life, and 
its close relations to national affairs and the conspic- 
uous personal figures engaged in their conduct. 

" September 22. — Got my morning ride at 8 
o'clock, before the rain which commenced at 9.30. 
Lunch at Chevy Chase and call on Mr. Root at 5 p.m. 
We discuss our relations with Japan. He said he felt 



7 07] POSTMASTER GENERAL 371 

that the President at one time this summer really con- 
sidered a Japanese attack imminent or liable. He had 
not anticipated one, for the following reasons: their 
financial condition and their desire not to be considered 
barbaric in the eyes of Western civilization if they 
should commence war without a proper pretext or one 
that would justify them in the eyes of Europe and Eng- 
land. If, later, that should be found before the Canal 
was completed, their first act after taking Hawaii, 
which would not be difficult, would be to seize the 
Canal and then offer to build, or complete it rather, as 
an international canal, which would find approval with 
Europe and demolish the Monroe Doctrine. Japan's 
advances to Colombia and the appointment of a min- 
ister point to the idea of a possible base of supplies in 
case of need." 

To President Roosevelt 

September 23, 1907. 
My dear Mr. President, — 

I desire to acknowledge receipt of your letter of the 19th 
instant, and to take this opportunity to ask your consideration 
of the suggestion that the designation of the Postmaster Gen- 
eral be changed to that of Secretary of Posts. The Postmaster 
General's present title results in his being designated chiefly as 
" General," a misnomer if ever there was one. The Post-Office 
Department is, I believe, at present the largest one in the Gov- 
ernment, the expenditures exceeding two hundred million 
dollars ; it is made up of post offices, the railway-mail service, 
star-route service, steamboat service, rural delivery, the money- 
order and registry systems, the domestic and foreign parcels 
post (the former being limited to 4 pounds and the latter to 11 



372 GEORGE von L. MEYER ^^^07 

pounds in the case of most foreign countries) ; the inspection 
service, etc., etc. The head of the Department is no longer in 
any sense a postmaster. He has the administration of this 
enormous Department, and is secretary of a Department just 
as much as the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of 
War, the Secretary of the Navy, of the Interior, of Agricul- 
ture, of Commerce and Labour, and the same is equally true 
of the title of the Attorney General. 

If it should be your pleasure to recommend to Congress 
that the Attorney General be known as the " Secretary of Jus- 
tice," and that the Postmaster General be known as the " Secre- 
tary of Posts," the head of every Department in your Cabinet 
would then have a uniform title, that of " Secretary," which 
would seem most fitting for the head of each Department. 

Commending this suggestion to your kind consideration, 
and looking forward to seeing you again on the 25th, believe 
me, always, 

' Faithfully yours, 

George v. L. Meyer, 

Postmaster General.^ 

IDiary'] 

" September 26. — President telephoned for me to 
come to the White House this a.m. There were so 
many people waiting to have a word with him, that 
he suggested my coming round at 10 p.m. so that we 
would not be interrupted, as he had a number of things 
that he wanted to go over with me. 

1 Though the President was sympathetic with this suggestion, the 
change of titles was not made. It should bo noted, however, that, in his 
next Message to Congress, December .3, 1907, he recommended the adoption 
of the plan proposed by Meyer (see ante, p. 265), that in national political 
campaigns Congress should appropriate funds for the legitimate campaign 
expenses of each of the great national parties. 



19071 POSTMASTER GENERAL 373 

" I arrived at the White House at 10 p.m., found 
the Assistant Secretary of State (Bacon) upstairs with 
the President. The situation at Panama, in the East, 
and the attitude of Japan were gone over. At 11 p.m. 
Bacon left, and after I had reported matters in con- 
nection with the Department, the President suddenly 
said, ' I want to talk politics with you. How do you 
size up the present situation? ' I told him that at 
present Hughes was growing in New York and the 
East, but not in the West. Cortelyou was out of it. 
In the West people were Roosevelt, if anything more 
than ever, but there was also a growing sentiment 
among a certain class of voters that were for him, who 
were saying, ' Well, if Roosevelt won't run, then we 
shall vote for Bryan, because next to Roosevelt he has 
the interest of the people most at heart and will fight 
these monopolies and corrupt corporations ! ' The 
President said, ' You are quite right. I think that is 
the situation at the present time. Lodge in his last 
letter was not so emphatic about not running under 
any circumstances.' I think I saw signs that the 
President begins to realize that under certain condi- 
tions he may be forced to run against his own wishes, 
in order to ensure the present policies being continued 
and to avoid a Democratic victory. 

" October 25. — First Cabinet Meeting since last 
June, Taft, and Straus absent. President tells a 
story why Root, according to a certain general, is the 
greatest Secretary : ' The trouble with Taft was that 
he had once been a Judge, and if he came up against 
;the law in a policy which he wanted to pursue, he had 



374 GEORGE von L. MEYER t^^^^ 

such a respect for the law that he gave in, while Secre- 
tary Root was such a great lawj^er that he always 
could find a way to get around it.' 

" The reporter of the Record-Herald of Chicago 
asked me if I was going to Berlin as Ambassador. I 
replied, ' No, I have only just come home.' He then 
informed me that he had heard it at the German Em- 
bassy, and evidently it would be very agreeable to the 
Emperor, and as much had been intimated. Later, 
it seems, this same correspondent asked the President 
if it was true and the President had answered that he 
needed me in the Cabinet. 

" President sends for Bob Bacon and myself to 
consult us about a letter he has been requested to write 
to New York to restore confidence. I get him to put 
in the expression, ' the underlying conditions of the 
country are sound and honest.' ^ 

'' November 1. — Important Cabinet meeting. Dis- 
cuss the present crisis and financial condition. The 
President had been urged by some to call Congress 
together. Asked our advice, which was unanimous 
against such action. 

" The question of Taft's trip home was brought up, 
as to the advisability of his returning by the way of 
St. Petersburg, Berlin, Paris, etc. The President 
cabled, saying that he must decide for himself, but if 
he stayed on it would be wiser to return by San 
Francisco. 

" Cortelyou has come into prominence again for 

1 The Knickerbocker Trust Co in New York had suspended paymenta 
a few days before, and the financial panic of 1907 had begun. 



1907] POSTMASTER GENERAL 375 

President by the financial troubles in New York and 
the important part that the Treasury has played in 
advancing money to the banks. 

"" November 14. — President sent for me at 9.30 
A.M., gave me his message to Congress which he wants 
me to read and have back at 9 p.m. the same day. 
Return it in person at the White House at the ap- 
pointed hour. The President recommends Postal Sav- 
ings Banks and extension of Parcel Post, especially 
on rural routes and to benefit the farmer. His meas- 
ure is conservation; quotes from his former ones and 
shows conclusively that he is not hostile to well-man- 
aged corporations or successful and honest men. It 
is an able straightforward document. 

" November 15. — Cabinet meeting. Mr. Barney, 
President of the Knickerbocker Trust, shoots him- 
self. 

" After the Cabinet meeting the President invited 
Root, Cortelyou, and myself to stay. The financial 
situation was reviewed and means considered to alle- 
viate the situation and restore confidence. Adjourned 
at 1.30 to meet again at 6 p.m. 

" At 6 o'clock the President read the draft of a 
letter addressed to Cortelyou as Secretary of the 
Treasury, approving the $50,000,000 Panama bonds 
and $100,000,000 notes for one year bearing interest. 
These can be issued under the act of 1898 (at the time 
of the Spanish war) . 

" The wording of the letter was discussed, and the 
question whether both should be announced at once. I 
favoured this strongly, in order to get the moral effect 



876 GEORGE von L. MEYER r^^^^ 

^- 

and if possible restore confidence and reassure timid 
people. 

" Met at the White House to discuss and review 
the President's message. Root and myself present, 
later Cortelyou. 

" November 16. — President called a meeting at 
the White House at 6 p.m. of the same sub-committee 
of the Cabinet, Root, Cortelyou, and myself, to decide 
finally on the bond and note issue and the exact text 
of the President's letter to the Secretary of the Treas- 
ury, to be made public Sunday morning. 

" Decide to issue both the bonds and the notes, and 
the exact phraseology of the President's letter intended 
to restore confidence, and call attention to the strong 
gold reserve, etc., of the Treasury and underlying con- 
ditions of business, which were sound. 

" November 24. — Take a three-hours' walk in the 
afternoon with the President and Robert Bacon. We 
climb cliffs and do all sorts of stunts, going along the 
banks of Rock Creek. If he had slipped, anj^^ one or 
all of us might have broken our legs or neck. I hon- 
estly think it is taking a foolish chance, as we are all 
within a year of 50. 

"^ November 25. — The papers announce that 
Speaker Cannon will oppose Postal Savings Banks 
and extension of parcel post, notwithstanding the pop- 
ular demand. 

" Had an hour's conference with the Speaker in 
his private room over the matter, but made practically 
no headway. He is seventy years old and does not 
believe in new ideas, besides being very egotistical and 



19071 POSTMASTER GENERAL 377 

narrow, and with no experience outside of the House. 

'' November 29, — Cabinet Meeting. Good deal 
of discussion about the Japanese. Russian officers are 
offering their services, in case of war with Japan, in 
Philippine Islands. The President does not think that 
we will have war; if they should have such a purpose, 
they will have to attack before the fleet reaches San 
Francisco. We know that the Japs are buying ammu- 
nition in large quantities. I think they merely want to 
be ready in case the unexpected should occur. 

" Play tennis at 3.30 with the President, French 
Ambassador, and Nick Longworth." 

The diary for December 3 reveals an amusing 
aspect of Meyer's relation with his chief and at the 
same time points to material for illustration. It reads 
as follows : " Cabinet meeting. Although it was snow- 
ing, the President suggested tennis for the afternoon. 
Later this was changed to a walk at 3.30 p.m. I was 
obliged to give out, as there is such a mass of work to 
be attended to. Later, at 6 p.m., I receive the enclosed 
letter from the President." It came in a White 
House envelope, addressed in Roosevelt's own hand- 
writing, — 

" To the Postmaster General 

(Secretary of Posts) 
" Immediate, and highly unimportant. 
" No cup from the Tennis cabinet for you!!!! ** 

The first of its two sheets reproduced herewith was 
signed with the initials of the President, the French 



378 GEORGE von L. MEYER ^^^^y 

Ambassador, M. Jusserand, and Mr. Beekman Win- 
throp, at that time Assistant Secretary of the Treasury. 
The second sheet is notable for the President's Lear-like 
portrait of himself leading his fellow " scramblers." 
Altogether it is one of the informal documents testify- 
ing to the " bully time " of the Roosevelt admin- 
istration. 

Early in the Christmas month of 1907, Meyer 
issued an order to postmasters throughout the country, 
which resulted in a wide dissemination of pleasure 
through the holiday season. A young lady in Phila- 
delphia had written t« the President suggesting that 
something be done for the trusting children, especially 
of the poorer sort, who mailed letters to Santa Claus 
telhng him what they " wanted for Christmas." The 
idea appealed to Roosevelt, who committed its execu- 
tion to Meyer, with the result that the postmasters, 
before the middle of December, received the following 
instructions : — 

Ordered, that hereafter and until the close of the first day 
of January, 1908, postmasters are directed to deliver all letters 
arriving at their respective post-offices addressed plainly and 
unmistakably to " Santa Claus," without other terms or ex- 
pressions identifying the person for whom such letters are in- 
tended, to any regularly organized charitable society in the 
city or town of address, to be used exclusively for philanthropic 
purposes. In the event that claim should be made by more than 
one such society for letters so addressed, such letters will be 
equally divided according to number, between or among the 
societies making such claim. 



cs 

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X 



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'A 
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mn POSTMASTER GENERAL 379 

It was an order which met with universal approval. 
Under such headings as " Squelching ' Old Scrooge'," 
the press commended it warmly; and from cities in all 
parts of the country came reports that " Santa Claus 
Letters," in numbers aggregating tens of thousands, 
had been received and answered by deputies of the 
Christmas Saint. In the following year the order was 
not renewed. The Postmaster General, who had re- 
ceived nothing but praise in this matter from the news- 
papers in 1907, was now blamed by many of them for 
heeding the reports that the very publicity accorded 
to the plan had led to its abuse in many unworthy 
quarters. This was apparently the fact. Had the 
practice been continued to the present day, the Post 
Office and the charitable societies might well have at- 
tained a monopoly of Christmas. 

The diary proceeded to touch upon many matters 
of greater moment. 

" December 11. — Call at the White House at 
10.30. The Cabinet room crowded with people. Went 
into the President's room, where he at once called me 
over to him and said, ' What do you think of my 
issuing a letter at once, saying that I have not been 
and shall not be a candidate? ' I replied that within 
the last forty-eight hours I had come to the conclusion 
that it would be the best thing to do, and to do it at 
once. The meeting of the National Committee lately 
at Washington, and the action of certain Federal office- 
holders in the South, had placed the President before 
the public in the eyes of some people as though he 
were playing with the question and was in doubt as to 



380 GEORGE von L. MEYER t^^^^ 

his final action. I suggested that he also get the 
opinion of Root. He then informed me that Root was 
to ride with him at 3.30, and asked me to come also. 

" We met at 17th and Park Row, and the Presi- 
dent in his direct way took up the subject at once. 
Root agreed that it was a proper time to make a state- 
ment, the call for the conventions having been made 
and the place decided upon. After some discussion it 
was agreed that the President should not write a letter 
but give out the same statement that he made Novem- 
ber 8, 1904, with this addition: 'Under no circum- 
stances will I be a candidate for or accept another 
nomination.' 

" December 12. — President's statement printed in 
all the morning papers that he would not be a candi- 
date again. His action is commended by the press of 
both parties all over the country. This clears the air 
and will force the hand of the third-termers to say 
exactly whom they are for. 

" Cortelyou is being criticized, and his friends are 
supposed to have been hiding behind the third-term 
movement. Taft's support has suffered from the fact 
that he has been out of the country. 

'' December 13. — Cabinet meeting. . . . The 
President . . . requested me to come round to the 
White House at 9.30 in the evening. 

" The business and commercial outlook for the 
future is not encouraging and the prospects are not 
encouraging. This is liable to affect elections next 
November if hard times come on and continue. 

" 9.30 P.M. The President seemed much pleased 



1908^ POSTMASTER GENERAL 381 

by the way that his statement has been received, and 
it must also be a rehef to have the pubhc finally under- 
stand that he will not stand again. I went over the 
standing of the different candidates, and he appreciates 
that it will be too embarrassing having two candidates 
from the Cabinet, Taft and Cortelyou. He mentioned 
that he might ask them both to resign. I suggested 
that, if they both insisted on remaining candidates it 
might be well to compromise on Mr. Root as the ad- 
ministration candidate. This seemed to impress the 
President as a possible outcome. 

" January 11, 1908. — Have a long walk with the 
President. Jusserand, the French Ambassador, was 
with us. We were taken over impossible places, climb- 
ing as best we could at considerable risk of falling. 
At one place, where we had to go along a narrow 
ledge with nothing to hold on to and every chance of 
falUng into Rock Creek, the French Ambassador 
funked it, and I told him that now he had become the 
President of the Mollycoddles, which quite depressed 
him the rest of the afternoon. 

"January 21. — Cabinet meeting, an exceptionally 
short session; get through at 12.30 and return to the 
office, as the President wants Root and me to ride with 
him and have our horses at the end of 17th St. at 3.30. 

" We get mounted at 3.45, and go at once into 
Rock Creek Park. While riding we discuss the Japa- 
nese immigration question and the French tariff. 
Coming home, the President said, ' Lodge wants me to 
go abroad for a year or two when I leave the White 
House ; but I have no idea of doing it, because I should 



382 GEORGE von L. MEYER t^^^s 

have to call on the crowned heads and act, in a way, 
as though I were still President, which I am not will- 
ing to do and have no desire to. Then others want me 
to return to the Senate as Senator from New York. 
If I had never been President, I would be very glad 
to; but I think it would be not only unwise but in bad 
taste for me to go to the Senate, where I would at 
times not appear to be giving my successor a free hand 
or would be accused of trying to shape a policy. No,' 
he added, ' I should keep quiet and out of sight as 
much as possible and not embarrass the next Presi- 
dent.' Then, turning to Root, he asked, ' How would 
you like to be Senator from New York?' 'I would 
not go across the street to get it,' replied Root, ' but 
I suppose I would accept it, if it was offered me.' 
The President then said, * George, I have had a mighty 
good time, and it has been fine to have been President 
at an age when I could enjoy it, and we have had some 
good walks and rides together of a kind which former 
Presidents have been too old to do.' 

" February 8. — The President sends word that he 
wants me to walk with him at 4 o'clock and to join 
him at the White House. Find Rev. Endicott Pea- 
body, Robert Bacon, and one of his former Rough 
Riders. We started at 4.15 p.m. with two secret 
service men following. We go across the White 
House lot, and then over the Potomac by the long 
bridge — smooth going, but once over the river the 
President strikes downstream through frozen marshes, 
thick canes, and underbrush, picking out always the 
roughest going, at a four-mile pace. We get back to 



1908} POSTMASTER GENERAL 383 

the White House at 6.30. I tumble into a hot bath 
and then wrap myself up in blankets for a quarter 
of an hour, as we are dining at the Shoreham — Alice, 
James Lawrence, and Violet Vivian and myself, and 
then going to the theatre. 

'^February 13. — Root and I go to ride (on horse- 
back) with the President at 4.30 p.m. The ren- 
dezvous is 17th Street; turn into the Park and have a 
fine ride, the first one for a week on account of the 
snow. The President tells of a letter received from 
Tower, Ambassador at Berlin, in which he relates an 
audience with the Emperor, who tells him of 10,000 
Japanese in Mexico who have been drilled and ready 
at a moment to enter the U. S. armed!! Root replied 
that there were hardly any Japs left in Mexico, and 
the President said that it was one of the Kaiser's ' pipe 
dreams.* 

" February 14. — Cabinet meeting. Interesting 
discussion about Japan. Root made the statement 
that thirty-five per cent of the taxes in Japan went 
for Army and Navy purposes; that they were increas- 
ing their Army and keeping up their Navy; that the 
nation had almost come to the point of breaking down 
under the heavy burden ; that sooner or later it meant a 
choice of revolution or war with a foreign country. 
The Japs had concealed from their country the real 
cause of peace, which was that the expense had used 
up almost all their resources. The President said, not- 
withstanding our exact information as to Japan's prep- 
aration there were certain ' sublimated sweetbreads ' 
who closed their eyes to any chance of trouble with 



384 GEORGE von L. MEYER ^^^^8 

Japan. It was possible that she intended inroads or 
China, but on the other hand the treaties with Eng- 
land, France, and Russia called for the integrity of 
China. 

"^ February 15. — The President asked me to go to 
walk, but I excused myself on the ground that I was 
to have a talk with Taft on the long distance, and with 
Hitchcock before he left the Department. Heard 
later that they swam the River (Rock Creek) as a 
stump. 

" February 16. — Ride in the afternoon with the 
President, Root, and Douglas Robinson, at 4 p.m. 
Meet at the corner of 35th Street and T Street. 

" The President said to Root, ' George Meyer, 
when I ask him to go to walk, refuses, but with an air 
which is as much as to say, *' I have been several times 
and I am able to do it, therefore I can refuse "!! ' The 
President told this with one of his smiles which showed 
all his fine teeth. 

" When the ride was over, and we finished at Sheri- 
dan Circle, he said, ' I am so glad that you have not cut 
off riding with me as yet.' 

"February 21. — At Cabinet meeting to-day the 
President spoke of the Japanese situation and the sup- 
posed dangers to our fleet in Eastern waters. Strictly 
confidential instructions have been sent to Admiral 
Evans and the commanding officers to be on their 
guard as in time of war against any torpedo or mine 
attack, although the President added, ' It is extremely 
improbable that any attempt will be made, yet any- 
thing of that sort would be so disastrous that we should 



19081 POSTMASTER GENERAL 385 

take every precaution. The German Emperor sends 
stories of all sorts of rumours, and if we believed them 
our fleets would be in the same nervous condition as 
that of Rodjestvensky on the way to Japan through 
the Baltic' Some unforeseen event may cause Japan 
to strike us, but the President did not believe it likely 
and believed that China was much more likely to be 
the scene of war, if any, than our Pacific Coast. 

^' February 29. — Had a delightful ride alone with 
the President. We mounted at 17th near the Park 
at 4.30, got back at 6.30. 

" I reported conditions in New York and informed 
him that I had told the * reactionists ' that if they 
continued their opposition to Taft and prevented his 
being nominated on the first ballot, the Convention 
was liable to bolt for Roosevelt. He felt this very 
condition might be the cause of their eventually sup- 
porting Taft, in order to avoid him. 

" March 20. — Cabinet meeting. All present. 
Decide to accept the invitation from Japan to have 
the fleet visit their ports. Attention was brought to 
the publication of a Socialistic journal in Paterson. 
The President much incensed. It urged the use of 
dynamite to destroy the troops and the police. Under 
instructions from the President, I am to stop the 
transmission through the mails. 

" The President read his intended message to the 
entire Cabinet. It was amusing to hear Taft and 
Bonaparte disagree as lawyers as to the meaning of 
certain phrases. It pleased the President and gave 
him the opportunity to say, ' Well, gentlemen, if you 



386 GEORGE von L. MEYER ^^^^^ 

cannot understand, how in the world will Congress 
be able to? ' 

'"'' March 27. — Cabinet meeting. The Attorney 
General informed the Cabinet that, under the strict 
construction of the law, I probably had not the author- 
ity to keep certain anarchistic papers out of the mail, 
as the Courts had previously defined what ' immoral ' 
was. 

" I informed the Attorney General that it had 
already been done, and the President added that we 
had public sentiment with us, and that he should con- 
tinue this policy towards the papers which threatened 
life and property until the Courts stopped us. 

" April 7. — Cabinet meeting. Taft and Cor- 
telyou both absent. 

" The President in meeting turned to me and said 
that he had Imperial information that I was not quite 
satisfied or contented being in the Cabinet, and that 
he, the Emperor, would be very pleased to have me 
come as Ambassador to Berlin; reminded the Presi- 
dent that he had sent Speck to please him." 

During all this time Meyer was making frequent 
excursions to New York and Boston and many cities 
at a greater distance, especially for the purpose of 
stimulating sentiment in favour of the reforms he was 
advocating, notably in the system of Parcel Posts and 
through the establishment of Postal Savings-Banks. 
His self -training as a public speaker had greatly im- 
proved his capacity to plead a cause with good effect. 
His speeches in general were arsenals of fact, the 



1908^ POSTMASTER GENERAL 387 

arguments of a business man with business men. He 
could turn to good account, however, the American 
practice of illustrative anecdote, as, for example, when 
he likened the persistent seekers of flaws in the Postal 
Savings-Banks project to an old librarian who looked 
carefully through a book returned to his library, and 
glaring through his spectacles said, " Page 89 — a 
hole; " and then, turning the leaf, added, " Page 90 — 
another hole." In the great mass of his printed ad- 
dresses, in pamphlet form and newspaper files, these 
lighter bits are infrequent. Whether on Department 
or party themes, the speeches are rather the serious, 
fact-fortified considerations of the subjects in hand. 

Early in April of 1908 one of Meyer's excursions 
took him to Boston, to serve as chairman of the Re- 
publican State Convention. The diary touches upon 
his reception there and immediately takes the reader 
back to Washington, where plans for the next presi- 
dential campaign were constantly in the making. 

" [ Boston] April 9. — Find Taft sentiment very 
strong in the state. Have a conference at my office, 
Cabot Lodge, Eben Draper, Otis Wardwell, and 
Langtry, representing Murray Crane. Later Lodge, 
Crane, Draper, and Langtry and I dine at the Union 
Club. They leave at 8, to attend reception at the 
American House. 

" It was 3 o'clock a.m. before they came to an 
understanding, which was that, while it was acknowl- 
edged that a majority of the delegates of the Conven- 
tion favoured the nomination of Taft, it was believed 
that in the interests of harmony it was advisable not 



388 GEORGE von L. MEYER ^^^os 

to pass any instructions or resolutions of prefer- 
ence. 

"' Apnl 10. — Convention met at 10.30. Mr. Doty 
acted as temporary chairman and called the organiza- 
tion to order. Later, a committee was appointed to 
wait on me and escort me to the chair. I was given 
an enthusiastic and cordial reception. My address 
took about 40 minutes, and was well received. 

" The platform followed, which was read by Mr. 
Smith, former President of the Senate. I was sur- 
prised by the strong endorsement that it gave me, asso- 
ciating my name with President Roosevelt in the 
Peace Conference between Russia and Japan, and up- 
holding the policies favoured by me as Postmaster 
General. 

" Lodge followed in an able speech, and the Con- 
vention unanimously endorsed and supported the re- 
port of the Committee on Resolutions. 

" April 19. — Easter Sunday. The President tele- 
phones to meet him for a ride at 17th Street, 4 o'clock, 
to bring any member of my family. Sixteen of us 
in all — Cabot Lodge, Mr. and Mrs. Bacon, Martha 
Bacon, Mr. and Mrs. Austin Wadsworth, Ethel 
Roosevelt, Del Ames, Phillips, Fitzhugh Lee, Julia 
and myself. 

" The President started off in a canter right 
through Rock Creek Park, until Ethel said, ' Pa, if 
you don't walk, some of the horses will drop dead.' 
It was a long but lovely ride down Sligo Creek and 
back through Soldiers' Home. The party got sepa- 
rated, but joined again on the other side of Soldiers' 



1908] POSTMASTER GENERAL 389 

Home. I do not think the President liked it, as it 
is etiquette to let him always lead the way. 

^'^ April 24. — Cabinet meeting. Taft consulted 
the President, Root, and myself about his trip to 
Panama in order to straighten matters with Colombia, 
etc. The President asked if Bacon could not go in 
his place, but Root was most decided that it would 
not do. I suggested that, if the Associated Press 
were given an article clearly showing the necessity of 
it, and if it would only require about three weeks' 
time, I did not believe it would hurt his candidacy. 

''^ April 28. — Cabinet meeting. Root brought up 
the matter of diplomatic uniforms, on account of a 
letter which he had received from Hill as to what he 
should do in Berlin, Tower having adopted a uniform 
of his own. The President asked me what I had done. 
I related that in Italy I had worn at all state and 
official functions, no matter what the time of day, an 
evening suit. On arrival I had requested through the 
proper official the privilege of wearing a frock coat 
on the occasion of my audience with the King, but 
it had been denied by the prefet of the palace. In 
Russia, when I arrived, I had worn an evening dress 
suit at my first audience with the Emperor, which 
was at noon, and the same with all the other members 
of the royal family. Later I heard that the Emperor 
would appreciate it if I should continue to wear a 
uniform as my two predecessors had done. There- 
fore I made up my mind to do so in the future with- 
out consulting the State Department, as it meant 
nothing to me, and it was important to make a good 



390 GEORGE von L. MEYER ^^^^^ 

impression and overcome prejudices, in order to ac- 
complish the results for which I was sent there by the 
President. The law prohibits the State Department 
from prescribing a uniform, but it permits each am- 
bassador and minister to wear whatever is appropriate. 
I added that if Hill now took to wearing a dress suit 
on all occasions, they would think that he was trying 
to show how much better he knew than Tower, and 
might be in bad taste at this time. The President 
agreed with me, and instructed Root to inform Hill 
to wear whatever he thought was appropriate. 

"May 1. — Cabinet meeting. The President said 
it is evident that Congress is not in sympathy with the 
Administration and intends to do nothing, or as little 
as possible. This will make it hard to reelect some 
of them, or explain Congress's lack of action on the 
platform this autumn. I called attention to the fact 
that the Congressmen were taking their cue from the 
Speaker, and he should be held accountable for their 
omissions. 

"May 4. — Call on Senator Carter [of Mon- 
tana] and warn him about the attempt that may be 
made to stop a vote being taken on the Postal Savings- 
Bank Bill, which is now on the Senate Calendar. 
Then go to the White House and have an interview 
with the President behind closed doors, while about 
50 people are kept waiting, including Senators and 
Representatives. 

" The President is to send for Senator Carter to 
encourage him on his work for Postal Savings. The 
President stated, in connection with his work as Presi- 



1908] POSTMASTER GENERAL 391 

dent, [that] there was a time quite lately when he felt 
sorry to give up, but that he was quite reconciled and 
had become tremendously interested in his proposed 
African trip. He should let his son have his freshman 
year at Harvard, but then he should take him away 
to go into Africa with him. 

"June 1. — Arrive at 11.32 from Philadelphia. 
Go straight to the White House to see the President. 
. . . Informed me that Reid^ had cabled that the 
present Cabinet were very anxious to announce my 
decision as soon as possible, and that Reid wanted it 
to take effect July 4. Informed the President I had 
been waiting for Congress to adjourn, and that I 
would probably send a cable this afternoon to Buxton, 
the Postmaster General in England. 

" Five P.M. this afternoon cabled the P.M.G., Lon- 
don, that we would adopt two-cent an ounce postage 
with Great Britain and Ireland, to take effect Octo- 
ber 1. This, I believe, will lead to closer relations 
commercially and otherwise. I telephoned Ambas- 
sador Bryce at 7 v.m. of my message to Buxton. 

''June ^. — Cabinet meeting. Taft rather de- 
pressed to-day because the papers have been jumping 
on him for having referred to General Grant as having 
overcome the tendency to drink hard. I do not think 
it will do any harm, and told him so. 

"We got into a general debate as to the future of 
the negro, and how httle was open to him. The Presi- 
dent spoke of the bitter feeling that must come to them 

iWhitelaw Reid, Ambassador to Great Britain: the subject of his 
message was the agreement which Meyer had been negotiating for two- 
cent postage to England. 



392 GEORGE von L. MEYER ^^^^^ 

as they realized how they were handicapped, no matter 
what their ability might be. 

" Received a cable from Sydney Buxton saying 
that he should announce penny postage with the 
United States to-morrow at 4 p.m. in the House of 
Commons. 

" June S. — I announced through the press this 
afternoon that two-cent letter postage had been ar- 
ranged with Great Britain and Ireland, to take effect 
October 1, 1908. 

" This afternoon received a cable from Sydney 
Buxton that the announcement of penny postage with 
the U. S. had been received with applause. 

'' June A. — The papers have spoken favourably 
of the two-cent postage to be established with Eng- 
land. Many congratulatory letters, one very nice one 
from Mr. James, former Postmaster General, and 
another from Lyman Abbott of the Outlook!' 

As the Republican National Convention, which 
nominated Mr. Taft for the Presidency, drew near, 
the newspapers contained many rumours that the con- 
duct of the campaign was to be committed to Mr. 
Meyer. His characteristic dealing with this matter 
formed the subject of the following portion of a letter 
to Mrs. Meyer, who had gone to Europe with her 
daughters, for a cure for one of them at Kissingen, 
early in May : — 

. . . Last evening I went out to see the President on 
account of an article which appeared in the Washington Tivies. 



1908} POSTMASTER GENERAL 393 

The statement was made that I was to be Chairman of the 
National Committee and run the campaign, and then next year 
I was going to reenter the Cabinet and become Secretary of 
the Treasury. There had been rumours coming to me from 
different newspaper men, and so I thought it was just as well 
to run the matter down anc stop it if possible. So I went up to 
see Loeb, and he finally acknowledged that he had told Taft 
that he thought that I would be the best man to run his cam- 
paign for him, and intimated to me the President had said the 
same. So after dinner, having an appointment at the White 
House, I consulted the President, and found that he had told 
Taft this : that if he were running again for President, he 
should want me, of all men, to manage the campaign for him, 
for numerous reasons, which it is unnecessary for me now to 
enumerate. I told the President that in my judgment it would 
be a political mistake. There had been talk that the Post 
Office had been used for political purposes for Taft's nomina- 
tion ; and now if, on top of that, having made Hitchcock man- 
ager before the Convention, I should resign from his Cabinet 
and go in and take the Chairmanship and run the campaign 
with Hitchcock as an assistant, it would be impossible to make 
the public believe that we had not been using the Post-Office 
Department all along ; also that I felt that the work I had been 
putting in on postal savings-banks and parcel post would be 
lost if I went out of the Cabinet at this time, and that there was 
a very good chance of putting it through the Senate next De- 
cember, and that the sentiment was now changing in the House 
favourably to these measures. With additional work I felt I 
could probably get the postal-savings bank bill through and 
get something done in the way of a local parcel post on rural 
routes — that I was very anxious to accomplish this during 
his Administration. With a new man in the Post Office, who 
would have to play second fiddle to my views and would prob- 



394 GEORGE von L'. MEYER l^^os 

ably not take interest in these measures, the matters would go 
by default ; that I considered the postal savings-banks the most 
important possible legislation at the present time that had not 
been enacted, in which he agreed with me. He said that he had 
not looked at it from all those points of view, and felt there 
was a good deal in what I said ; that of course it was not for 
him to decide who should be Chairman, and that he had merely 
stated to Taft his feelings, as he felt very strongly the impor- 
tance of the choice of the man. I am to dine" with the Swiss 
Minister on Saturday night. Mr. and Mrs. Taft are to be 
present, and I shall, if he is not too tired, go over the whole 
matter, later in the evening. Having turned cold water on it, 
I want to play the hose on the scheme as well. 

Three days later the diary records a close match 
of doubles at tennis on the White House grounds, and 
proceeds : — 

" June 8. — . . . The President asked me to 
come back at 9.30, to meet Taft and himself and go 
over the platform. At 9.30 Taft, Ellis, who had written 
the rough draft, and myself met the President in his 
library. Taft read aloud the manuscript and the Presi- 
dent made suggestions or slight changes. He compli- 
mented Ellis on the form and language. I was much 
pleased to find that both the President and Taft were 
decided to have Postal Savings in the Platform. 

" We worked until midnight perfecting. The 
President was very humorous at times." 

In view of the part that submarines have recently 
played in the affairs of the world a portion of the 
extracts from the following letter, written less than 



1908] POSTMASTER GENERAL 395 

ten years before the United States entered the Eu- 
ropean war, possesses an interest historic in its sig- 
nificance : — 

To Mrs. Meyer 

Washington, June 15, 1908. 
I was unable to get a letter off to you on the Saturday 
steamer, for the reason that I went away unexpectedly on the 
Mayflower, with Taft and Metcalf, on Friday afternoon at 
four o'clock, down the Potomac as far as Norfolk, where we 
arrived early the next morning and were present at the attack 
on the Florida with a torpedo — the most powerful one that 
has been made up to the present cime. The object of the experi- 
ment was to demonstrate that, if the compartments on a battle- 
ship were properly constructed, the ship could not be sunk. 
The officials were so confident as to the result of the torpedo 
attack that thirty men and officers remained on board the 
Florida. When the torpedo struck the Florida, it threw a 
volume of water about 150 feet in the air, which concealed the 
ship for a few moments, and it was a great relief to see the 
Monitor still floating a few seconds later, although she had a 
slight list to starboard. We immediately got into an electric 
launch and went on board, and found every one much interested 
in the result, with only water in the compartment, although they 
said the shock was so great that she seemed to be lifted out of 
the water after the concussion. She was then towed to the 
Norfolk Navy Yard and put into the dry-dock, and there we 
examined the results and found a hole in her, under the armour 
belt-line, sufficiently large to put the brougham into ; but the 
other compartments were not injured. This is the first experi- 
ment of this kind that has ever been made, and they have only 
been able to judge what the eff^ects would be in time of war.^ 

1 Meyer wrote in his diary for June 13 : " The experiment will remove 
much dread of the torpedo which now exists." 



396 GEORGE von L. MEYER t^^^s 

This attack was made on the most vulnerable part of the ship. 
In the afternoon we sailed again for Washington, arriving here 
Sunday morning at six o'clock. Each of us had an aide on 
board — General Edwards being assigned to Mr. Taft, Lieu- 
tenant-Commander Clenin Davis to Metcalf, and Lieutenant- 
Colonel Charley MacCawley to me. We had two of the most 
beautiful nights I ever saw on the water, and coming back, as 
it was rather warm, I slept on deck. . . . 

Our last Cabinet meeting is to come this week Friday, the 
President leaving Saturday, the 20th, for Oyster Bay. I ex- 
pect to go on then and join " Bey " and be present at Com- 
mencement, and arrange with him to sail either on the Maure- 
tania, on the 24th, or the Touraine, on the 25th. 

I think I have fixed it now so they will not make me chair- 
man, and it is a great relief to me, as I should have had to drop 
the work into which I have been putting so much time. 

The new fiscal year begins on the first of July, and there 
will be a number of matters that will require my attention that 
month, and I do not feel that it would be opportune, for many 
reasons, for me to leave and go abroad at this time. Things 
might happen which would be unfortunate if I were away. My 
plan is to go up, as soon as " Bey " sails, to the Restigouche 
and get three weeks of complete rest and fishing, and then, 
later, to see just what your plans are. Taft is practically 
nominated, and the only interest now is to see who will be made 
Vice-President. It would not surprise me if they took Fair- 
banks over again, although no one has been definitely decided 
upon as yet.^ The fight as well as the interest at present is on 
the resolutions, that is, the platform, and the President, Taft, 
and the Cabinet are all backing me up in my efforts to have 
postal savings-banks and parcel post made two of the important 
planks. 

1 James S. Sherman, of New York, was nominated. 



loos] POSTMASTER GENERAL 397 

[Diaryl 

" June 16, — Cabinet meeting. Bonaparte, Met- 
calf, and Garfield absent. 

" The President, speaking of very moral and re- 
ligious people, said that some Catholics and strict 
Episcopalians at the end of Lent were almost impos- 
sible, having fasted to such an extent that it was im- 
possible to get on with them. If he were picking out 
a husband or wife, for comfort's sake, he would rather 
have them a little less moral. 

" Signed a parcel-post convention with the Italian 
Ambassador. While I was American Ambassador at 
Rome there was much complaint at there not being a 
parcel-post arrangement between the two countries. 

" At the Cabinet meeting to-day Straus an- 
nounced that Cleveland was very ill, in fact that he 
had pretty much lost his mind. Root remarked that 
when a man had been exerting great mental force and 
then suddenly stopped, it was sure to happen; Wilson 
added, more surely kill him. This amused the Presi- 
dent who said, ' I suppose it is about time then to 
begin the obituaries on me.' " 

For the next few days Meyer's diary followed the 
Republican National Convention at Chicago in some 
detail. On the 18th there was a note of rejoicing that 
the " Postal Savings Bank was put into the Repub- 
lican platform and the platform as reported by the 
Committee was adopted by the Convention yesterday. 
This is a defeat for Speaker Cannon, who went on to 



398 GEORGE yon L. MEYER t^^^s 

Chicago on purpose to keep it out of the platform." 

On the next day he wrote to his wife in Europe: 
" As you will have seen from the cabled reports, Taft 
was nominated on the first ballot and the nomina- 
tion was made unanimous. We were all pleased, as 
there was a little nervousness on account of the ex- 
traordinary applause and enthusiasm for Roosevelt 
the day before, lasting for 49 minutes ; but fortunately 
that expended itself on that day and the programme 
was carried out as designed and intended." In the 
same letter, lamenting his inability to join his family 
abroad "in the face of the election," he wrote also: 
" It is trying not to be able always to do what one 
wants, but somehow or other those unoccupied creatures 
who are able to go north, south, east, or west at their 
own will are not always the happiest." 

A few days later Meyer wrote in his diary : — 

["Boston] June ^^. — Horrors! My 50th birth- 
day. I wonder if every one has always felt as I do 
about it. All youth is over, though Victor Hugo 
says it is the youth of old age. 

" Ex-President Cleveland died to-day, seventy-one 
years old. 

" I went out to Commencement to-day — very hot, 
dull and depressing. Saw Choate and congratulated 
him on looking so well. He asked me what I was 
going to be next." 

On the next day there was a characteristic note: 
" Twenty-third anniversary of my wedding. The best 
day in my life was the day I married my wife." 

What he was " going to be next " remained an 



1908] POSTMASTER GENERAL 399 

unsettled question for some months after Mr. Taft's 
nomination. Clearly Meyer could not become " one 
of those unoccupied creatures " to whom he had re- 
cently alluded. The chairmanship of the Republican 
National Committee remained unfilled until early in 
f July. On July 2 Meyer wrote in one of his frequent 
letters to his wife: "To-day I lunched alone with 
Taft and we went over the chairmanship situation, 
which is still in a snarl; but I think I have got it fixed 
so that I shall not be called upon. We hope to solve 
it within a day or two." This was accomplished, by 
the choice of Mr. Frank Hitchcock, in the following 
week, at a conference at Hot Springs, Virginia, to 
which Mr. Taft summoned Meyer and other political 
advisers. With much relief Meyer went at once to 
the Restigouche for the salmon-fishing from which he 
always returned in better trim for hard work. There 
was plenty of it ahead in connection both with the 
campaign and with the conduct of his Department. 
The diary recalls many interests of the arduous weeks 
following his return to the United States early in 
August. 

*^' August 9. — Write Taft telling him he must 
expect complaints from the various factions through- 
out the country in the different states until election 
day; that I can appreciate how irritating it is, and 
that it is therefore all the more important that he 
get his exercise every day, in order to be in good con- 
dition to withstand the aggravations of the campaign. 
"August 19. — Leave Boston on the 10 a.m. train 
for New York and take the 4.30 from 34.th Street 



400 GEORGE von L. MEYER ^^^^8 

Ferry for Oyster Bay. The train had attached two 
parlour cars, which were used as club cars and were 
supplied with newspapers, card-tables for bridge, and 
two coloured men who served drinks. I found some 
friends on board and was much refreshed by a White 
Rock lemonade. Reached Oyster Bay at quarter be- 
fore six, where the President's carriage waited for 
myself and L. Frothingham. 

" Mrs. Roosevelt and the President had just re- 
turned from a sea-bath, and we joined them in a cup 
of tea. I proposed having a swim before dinner, and 
the President offered to walk down with us to the 
beach. When we got there, a distance of about a half 
mile, he proposed going in with us although he had 
been in the water only an hour previous. 

" I found it difficult to keep up with him swimming 
out to the raft, and on the way home he brought us 
back by a longer route through the woods, about a 
mile. I think the idea was to have me see one of the 
big oaks on the place, but by the time we reached 
the house I was so warm that I had to take a shower- 
bath before dinner. 

" At dinner all the family were present, including 
Mrs. Longworth and Miss Ethel. After dinner I 
sat out on the piazza with the President. Mrs. Roose- 
velt retired early and Alice Longworth and the boys 
played bridge whist. The President told me of his 
plans and arrangements for his African trip immedi- 
ately following his retirement from Washington, 
March 4. He should sail about the 15th for Naples, 
and from there take the steamer to the African Coast, 



1908} POSTMASTER GENERAL 401 

arriving at Cairo eleven months later. Specimens 
would be collected in Africa for the National Museum, 
and some taxidermists would accompany him and 
Kermit. Colliers had offered him for his trip 
$100,000, but he declined it and accepted $50,000 from 
Scribner's. . . . ' I shall only tell about a half-dozen 
men my plans — Root, Taft, Cabot, and yourself.' 
Then he added, * I have received a great many offers, 
but finally accepted one from the Outlook to write, 
whenever I wanted to, on public and political ques- 
tions. This does not refer to any books that I may 
publish on other subjects.' 

" The President then asked me, if he went to 
Rome would he have to have an audience with the 
King and the Pope. I assured him he would not be 
able to avoid them, and that he would enjoy talking 
with the King. The Pope, whom he would also have 
to see, only spoke Italian. His desire was to do in 
each country what was proper and dignified, but he 
wanted to avoid official ceremonies and public recogni- 
tion at banquets, etc., in every possible way. ' In 
England,' he added, * there is a real reason for my 
stopping there, as Lord Curzon, the Chancellor of 
Oxford, has invited me to make an address, and they 
are to confer upon me the highest honorary degree.' 

*' Next morning we played tennis, the President 
and I against Teddy and Kermit. We won, and then 
changed sides. At lunch there was present a number 
of New York State politicians who had come down 
to consult the President about the Governorship. 

"August 22. — Arrived in Washington yesterday 



402 GEORGE von L. MEYER ^^^08 

morning early. Worked at the Department until 7 
P.M. Left at 11.10 P.M. for Hot Springs, Va. Ar- 
rived at 8.30 A.M. 

" Taft and I went out at 10.15 to play golf. Of 
course we did a lot of talking politics between the 
holes. He is in splendid shape and looks fine, even 
if he does weigh 300 lbs. . . . We tied 9 holes and 
our score was 91 to 92. I won 1 up in holes as well 
as in medal play. 

" We were to have ridden at 5 o'clock, but a heavy 
thunder shower prevented. So instead we talked and 
planned in his room about the campaign until dinner- 
time. 

'' August 24. — Played golf with Taft in the 
morning; again won 1 hole up, but my score was 89 
and his 94. He was off his game. 

*' In the afternoon went to ride with Taft and John 
Warrington of Ohio. He was under Sheridan in the 
war, and he related some most interesting anecdotes 
about the famous general. Warrington claims that 
Sheridan had real <?enius. 

" Got home just in time to have dinner and catch 
the 8.00 P.M. express for Washington. 

" Taft was most cordial and said he was very glad^ 
that I came down, and asked me to continue to write 
him. 

^' September 22. — President Roosevelt gives an 
interview in the press in which he publishes Taft's 
letter showing that last winter he refused to compro- 
mise with Foraker and thus go back on his principles. 
President urges Taft as the fitting man to be elected. 



1908] POSTMASTER GENERAL 403 

on account of his integrity and experience; points to 
Governor Haskell of Oklahoma and his connections 
with the Standard Oil — its methods. 

" The President arrives in Washington at 5.55; met 
by his Cabinet. I comphmented the President on his 
Napoleonic move in the press. Replied that he 
thought he would hit Bryan hard and stir up the 
campaign. 

" Bryan sends a telegram to the President, de- 
manding proof of Governor Haskell's connection with 
the Standard Oil, etc. Campaign is now getting inter- 
esting — apathy disappeared. 

''^ September 23. — President sends for me to hear 
his reply to Bryan's telegram. Stay there from 10.30 
to 12 o'clock, and he desires Garfield and myself to 
return at 3 o'clock and meet him in his study in the 
White House, in order to review it in its final form. 

" In the afternoon Secretary of War Wright was 
also present. I got the President to change the last 
paragraph, which rather implied that some dishonest 
men of affairs or unscrupulous corporations would be 
found to be on Bryan's side in this election, etc. He 
agreed to leave it all out. The article is clear and 
powerful, and will convict Haskell in the public mind. 
Did not leave the White House until 7 p.m. The 
article given to the press at 7.45 p.m. 

^"^ September 24-. — The President invited me to go 
to the theatre to see ' The Gentleman from Missis- 
sippi,' and dine beforehand at the White House. At 
dinner — General Young, Miss Hagner, Captain Butt 
; — six in all, including Mrs. Roosevelt and myself. 



404 GEORGE VON L. MEYER l^s^'s 

" The play was at the National Theatre. The plot 
laid in Washington and represents new Socialist 
Senator from Mississippi beset by temptation and 
graft, etc. Some of the scenes amused the President 
and appealed to him just at this time, after the expose 
of Senator Foraker. 

" September 25. — Cabinet meeting. All present 
with the exception of Root. 

" The general consensus of opinion was that the 
President's answer to Bryan's telegram was dignified 
and conclusive. It will probably result in Governor 
Haskell being obliged to resign from the treasurership 
of the Democratic Committee, as the President has 
demonstrated his moral and political unfitness to hold 
any political office. 

'"'' September 26. — Stopped in at the White House 
this morning at 10 a.m. President had not come to 
the office. I wanted to make an engagement for Percy 
Haughton and Captain Burr of the [Harvard] Foot- 
ball Eleven. At 10.15 the President said he would 
see them gladly at 12 o'clock. At that hour he was 
in the middle of an article that he was preparing, to 
answer Bryan and Haskell concerning the granting 
of permits to oil companies in Indian Territory. He 
stopped and greeted the young men in the most hearty 
manner, wished that Ted had been heavy enough to 
have played on the eleven. Haughton wants Lieut. 
Graves for a short time, to coach the eleven at Cam- 
bridge. The President asked me to take them to Sec- 
retary Wright, Secretary of War, and wrote, ' If you 
can do this properly I should like it. I was a Harvard 



1908] POSTMASTER GENERAL 405 

man before I was a politician.' The President asked 
me to come back at 3 o'clock in order to read what 
he had prepared for the press. Just as I was leaving 
the actors of ' The Gentleman from Mississippi ' came 
in to be presented. The President assured them that 
he had enjoyed the play, which represents political life 
and corruption in politics. Ten years ago I would not 
beheve such corruption possible, but now I might be- 
lieve it. 

" At three o'clock I read over the President's state- 
ment, which is very strong and pointed. Advised not 
publishing it until Mondaj^ which was finally decided 
upon, as it was reported that Bryan would publish his 
answer Sunday. 

''^ September 27. — Bryan's answer appears in the 
morning papers. . . . Receive word from the White 
House to come there at 3 p.m. At that hour I found 
Abbott of the Outlook, Cortelyou, and Straus al- 
ready assembled. The President dictated in our 
presence his reply to Bryan. It is interesting to see 
his brain work as he walks up and down the room, and 
the rapid changes of expression in his face as the 
thoughts develop into words. His vigour, earnestness, 
and sincerity make themselves evident in every move- 
ment, and he thoroughly enjoys the effort and action 
in his work which would be a nervous strain to most 
men. As we were doubtful about the last two pages 
and his references to Bryan and the result of his poli- 
cies, at 6 o'clock he asked us to return at 9, when he 
would have it rewritten. I had Abbott and Roland 
[Cotton] Smith dine with me, and nine o'clock found 



•406 GEORGE vox L. MEYER t^^^s 

Abbott and myself back at the White House. Each 
was given a page and then passed on to the others for 
such criticism as we saw fit. The result was that the 
President destroyed the last two pages and condensed 
them into a single sentence of a few lines. During 
the evening, when Straus criticized certain lines, the 
President, quick as a flash, said, ' Remember that this 
is a poster, not an etching.' 

" September 29. — Cabinet meeting. Root not yet 
back and Garfield absent. 

" Discussed the general situation when the business 
of the meeting was over. The labour vote looks 
ominous, and it is very difficult to get money sufficient 
to run the campaign. 

" As I was leaving, the President asked me to go 
riding with him at 4.30. We were to mount our horses 
at 17th and Park Road. During our ride he said, 
' Of course, at times I used to be in doubt as to 
whether I had not made a mistake to announce that I 
would not take a third term, and even regretted it at 
moments. So again during this campaign I have re- 
gretted that I have refused to stump and attack 
Bryan's policies; but Bryan's telegram gave me an 
opening which I was glad to seize and I feel relieved, 
but I do not think I will say any more to him.' Which 
I feel is wise. 

" September 30. — The President announced that, 
as Bryan's answer is a personal attack on him, he would 
not reply. 

"October 1. — Dine with the President and Mrs. 
Roosevelt at the White House. 



19081 POSTMASTER GENERAL 407 

" Two-cent postage went into effect with the United 
Kingdom of Great Britain, as agreed between myself 
and Postmaster General Sydney Buxton last summer. 
Very favourably commented upon by the press in gen- 
eral. The New York City Post Office prepared for it 
by putting on an extra force." 

A letter written two days later in London, by 
J. Henniker Heaton, M.P., who in 1898 had carried 
the Imperial Penny-Postage Scheme in Parliament and 
had also introduced telegraph money-orders in Eng- 
land and parcel post to France, may well be read at this 
point. 

From J. Hermiker Heaton, M.P. 

Carlton Club, 13 October, 1908. 
My dear Postmaster General, — 

I cannot allow the first steamer carrying letters at a 
penny-postage rate from the United Kingdom to the United 
States to depart without recording my heartfelt thanks to you, 
for your splendid action in brushing aside what is well termed 
" Red Tape " and circumlocution, and declaring boldly for 
Penny Postage with Great Britain and Ireland. 

With refreshing candour, unknown to diplomatists, you 
wrote to me a year and three months ago (July 17, 1907), and 
simply asked to be privately Informed of the views of the Postal 
Authorities in this Country on the two-cent postage proposal, 
and If favourable you Informed me that you would at once pro- 
ceed to England to settle the question. 

I declare my conviction that, had it not been for your 
prompt action, Anglo-American penny postage would not have 
taken place for ten years. This note is written in no sense of 



408 GEORGE von L. MEYER t^^^^ 

condemning any one, but in justice to you and to show that 
the credit is yours. 

I am perfectly certain that the trade and good feeling 
engendered will repay you tenfold. 
With high regards, 

Believe me yours faithfully, 

J. Henniker Heaton. 
The Hon. George v. L, Meyer. 

Postmaster General. 
P.S. I shall be glad if you will allow the above to be published. 

H. H. 

The recognition to which this friend of postal reform 
in England gave expression came also from many other 
sources of intelligent opinion. Indeed the establish- 
ment of transatlantic two-cent postage was an event of 
outstanding significance in the development of inter- 
national relations, and deserved all the praise it called 
forth. Like the majority of human beings, Meyer was 
habitually pleased to have his good work recognized. 
In a letter of praise to somebody else he wrote, while 
he was Postmaster General: "A busy man can afford 
occasionally to accept a little well-earned commenda- 
tion; " and, during the same period, he made the frank 
avowal, when he himself was highly praised: " I always 
did like molasses much better than vinegar." 

At about the same time with the reduction of pos- 
tage to and from Great Britain a smaller improvement 
in the postal service attracted wide attention. This was 
instituted through an order from the Postmaster-Gen- 
eral directing postmasters to confer with the school 
authorities of their communities about the practicability 



1908} POSTMASTER GENERAL 409 

of giving instruction to the pupils of the schools in 
elementary postal matters. The lack of this knowl- 
edge, in the simple matter of addressing letters, had 
caused more than three million pieces of mail matter to 
go to the Dead Letter Office during the preceding year. 
Meyer's instinct of the practical — and workable — led 
him direct to the public schools as the most promising 
distributing centre for the information he wished to 
spread. Another intensely practical order — of which 
the results are a daily blessing to automobilists through- 
out the land, though few of them know that Meyer is 
to be thanked for it — was that which required a uni- 
versal display of signs on post offices indicating the 
names of the offices. The traveller generally knows the 
name of the city in which he happens to find himself, 
but as one is now whirled from smaller place to place 
at railroad speed, the frequent orientations by means of 
post-office signs are true occasions for gratitude. The 
list of more technical changes in postal administration 
introduced under instructions by Mr. Meyer would be 
more germane to a postal report than to a biography. 
For the present purpose it is best to turn again to the 
diary. 

'' October 8. — The President told me he enjoyed 
immensely the black ducks I sent,^ but ate too much. 
I quoted Franklin — ' Eat not to dullness, drink not 
to elevation.' He said, * I always did dislike Frank- 
lin's sayings.' 

" October 9. — Cabinet meeting. Wilson and Gar- 
field absent. 

1 After a day's shooting on Long Island. 



410 GEORGE von L. MEYER t^^os 

" The President, speaking of the Balkan troubles, 
said he hoped that Austria would hold Bosnia and 
Herzegovina; that he distrusted the Servians — they 
were a set of cutthroats, as shown by the manner that 
they murdered their King and Queen; that England's 
poHcy with Turkey, and ever since 1872, had been 
error and had bolstered up the miserable Turk. 

" October 13. — Cabinet meeting. There was con- 
siderable discussion about the coming election, the un- 
I)opularity of Hughes with the farmers, railroad men, 
and horsemen all over the state. This would also hurt 
Taft, because the straight ticket was not going to be 
voted. Yet he will run very much ahead of Hughes. 
Then again, Ohio is not looking any too certain on 
account of the liquor question, the negro, and labour. 
There are a great many local fights going on in the 
Republican Party in many states. The Democrats 
are more united than usual. 

'' October 16. — . . . The President read a letter 
which he wanted to send to Governor Haskell. All 
the Cabinet advised against it. Finally Root said, if 
Haskell wrote the President officially, it should be 
referred to the State Department for a reply. It was 
so referred. 

" Then the President read a letter to the Cabinet, 
in answer to a clergyman who stated that there were 
many who were prejudiced against Taft because he was 
a Unitarian. Again the Cabinet felt it unwise to send 
the letter. Root made the point that it was such a 
personal matter that Taft, who was arriving to-mor- 
row, should see it, and be consulted as to whether he 



1908} POSTMASTER GENERAL 411 

desired it or not. This was agreed to by the President 
as wise. He added, ' If it was in my own case and 
my own campaign, I have not the slightest doubt.' 

" Sir Rennell and Lady Rodd ^ arrive to-morrow 
morning to make us a visit. 

" October 18. — . . . After dinner Rodd and I 
leave for the White House, to introduce Rodd to the 
President and at the same time give him the oppor- 
tunity to see Taft again. Garfield came in as we 
were entering, and upstairs in the President's study 
we found the President, Taft, and Wright. Taft re- 
called meeting Rodd in Rome. The President de- 
lighted Rodd by talking about his books and showing 
his familiarity with them. We stayed until after eleven 
and had a most informal and delightful evening. Mr. 
Roosevelt turned to Rodd, and asked him about going 
to Italy and England and merely seeing the Kings 
informally in an audience, without any dinner func- 
tions, saying he had already consulted me. Fortu- 
nately Rodd assured him, as I had done, that it was 
quite feasible. Taft chaffed the President and said, 
' Wait till you get there. Don't imagine that you are 
going to get through those countries as if you were 
invisible; you may avoid "pink teas," but I will wait 
and let you tell me about it all when you return. It 
will be nearer my idea than yours.' 

" We all left about eleven o'clock, Taft to return 
to his private car and proceed in the morning to 
Baltimore." 

1 Sir Rennell Rodd, now British Ambassador at Rome, was First 
Secretary to the British Embassy there, during Meyer's Italian Ambassa- 
doTship. 



412 GEORGE VON L. MEYER ^^^^^ 

Through the final days of the Taft campaign 
Meyer, like other members of the Cabinet, contributed 
his personal effort to his colleague's election, and made 
political speeches in Ohio, Maryland, New Jersey, and 
Massachusetts. Here he voted on November 3, and 
had the satisfaction of telegraphing the President- 
elect his heartiest congratulations when the day's work 
was done. Some passages from the diary will suffice 
to touch upon ensuing events. 

. "^ November 13. — Cabinet meeting very short. 
After the meeting every Cabinet member stayed to 
speak with the President, so I left, intending to re- 
turn a little before one. At one o'clock found the 
President alone, when he told me that Perkins had 
informed him that Senator Aldrich of Rhode Island 
had said that it would be a mistake to make me Secre- 
tary of the Treasury, as I could not get along with 
the Western senators. The President told Perkins 
that I understood the West very much better than 
Aldrich, and that he felt that I was peculiarly fitted 
to be Secretary of the Treasury. This is to assist 
Cortelyou, and at the same time it would please 
Aldrich to have me turned down, as he is opposed to 
Postal Savings Banks. 

" I played tennis in the afternoon with the Presi- 
dent, Jusserand, and Winthrop. 

'' November 28. — The papers announce Hitch- 
cock is to be Postmaster General in the next Cabinet, 
and it appears to be official. I have been mentioned 
for Secretary of the Treasury, which the President 
hopes I will receive, and some papers have said that 



1908} POSTMASTER GENERAL 413 

it would be Secretary of State. I know that there is 
no chance of the latter, and the former, while at one 
time probable, is now less so on account of Hitchcock 
being from Massachusetts." 

On the last day of November the following note 
was written: "My second annual report is published; 
shows deficit of nearly 17 millions. With the normal 
increase and without the 9 millions' raise in salaries, 
there would have been a surplus of $2,000,000." On 
December 1 Meyer wrote: "Recommend to the Presi- 
dent, which he agrees to, signing an executive order 
putting all Fom-th Class Postmasters on the Civil 
Service list in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, 
Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, 
New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Indiana, Michi- 
gan, and Wisconsin. The Congressmen will kick in 
some instances, but it will be better for the service." 

Notes on the probable make-up of Mr. Taft's 
Cabinet follow from time to time: on December 18, 
for example, " Taft told the President that I was just 
the man that he wanted for Secretary of the Navy; " 
and, on January 4, " The President wrote to Taft 
thanking him for his decision [reported by Senator 
Lodge] and saying that he was glad it was decided 
about me." The uncertainty on this point, however, 
was not definitely removed until mid-February. Mr. 
Taft himself has more recently said that the personal 
knowledge of Meyer's ability which he acquired while 
they were fellow-members of the Roosevelt cabinet had 
shown him, without the need of further proof, that 



414 GEORGE von L. MEYER ^^^^9 

Meyer should be chosen to direct the Navy Depart- 
ment in his administration. 

A few more glimpses of the Cabinet and Wash- 
ington in the final days of President Roosevelt's term 
must close the chapter. 

'' January 12, 1909. — Cabinet meeting and offi- 
cial dinner. 

" Root explained about the treaties which he had 
just completed with Colombia, the Republic of Pan- 
ama, and the United States; also an important treaty 
with Canada concerning the waterways, etc. Root 
seemed pleased and gratified with the result. He has 
been quite concerned that he would go out of office 
without making a settlement between Colombia, 
Panama, and the United States. At Cabinet meet- 
ing some one spoke of the Ananias Club, and I said 
that there was quite a waiting list to all appearances; 
which amused Root and the others. The President did 
not laugh as much as the others. 

" January 19. — Cabinet meeting. All present. 
Knox, as is known, will be the new Secretary of State, 
and Root was yesterday unanimously named in the 
Republican caucus for Senator from New York. The 
President stated that a Congressman suggested to 
him that, as the two men were going to change places, 
so also would their minds and sympathies change con- 
cerning the executive and legislative rights. ' I told 
him, said the President, ' that within six months that 
might be the case as to Knox, but that if I knew any- 
thing, it would not apply to Root.' 

" January 26. — Cabinet meeting. Root takes his 



19091 POSTMASTER GENERAL 415 

leave of the President, and after the meeting says 
good-bye to his colleagues. He reported that, after a 
meeting with the British Ambassador, the Canadian 
representative, and the Newfoundland representative, 
lasting from 12 noon on Sunday until midnight, they 
agreed upon a fisheries treaty agreeable and satisfac- 
tory to all. It still has to be ratified by the New- 
foundland Premier. 

" Root finally got all his treaties in shape. This 
is the beginning of the breaking up of the Roosevelt 
Cabinet. We shall miss him very much — especially 
the President. 

'^^ January 31. — Give a dinner to the German Am- 
bassador and Countess Bernstorff. Both very at- 
tractive; will be a great addition to the Diplomatic 
Corps. Baron Rosen, the Russian Ambassador, also 
a guest. I think he is disappointed at not being made 
Ambassador to Rome, though he did not say so. 
Iswolsky has named Prince Dolgorouky, the uncle of 
Countess Fersen. I used to meet him at the Grand 
Duke Vladimir's while I was in Russia. Has not been 
in the career for ten years, and his last post was 
Persia. 

'^ February 2. — Cabinet meeting. The President 
speaks of the bills in the California legislature intended 
to discriminate against Japanese. Feels that it is 
serious and will give naturally great offense to Japan. 
Has written the Governor of California and asked 
that no legislation be enacted on the question until the 
receipt of his letter. Disgusted Avith California's 
short-sightedness. Refers to 's remark, ' when 



416 GEORGE von L. MEYER tisos 

^is state seceded.' Regretted it, because the state was 
too small to become a nation, and too large to put into 
a lunatic asylum. 

" February 5. — At Cabinet meeting to-day, the 
President spoke of the seriousness of Nevada's and 
California's ill-advised and insulting resolution and 
legislation to the Japanese in their states. He thought 
it fortunate that the fleet was not on the Pacific Coast, 
as we could never explain to Japan that the actions of 
these two state legislatures had not been with the ap- 
proval of the Federal Government. 

" The President, in speaking of his actions while in 
office, mentioned the inviting of Booker Washington 
to a meal at the White House as a mistake on his part ; 
not in the action itself, but the effect on the South was 
injurious and misinterpreted. 

" Leave on the one o'clock train for Philadelphia, 
to attend the Bankers' Dinner and make an address on 
Postal Savings Banks. 

^'^ February 6. — The Bankers' Dinner last night 
was attended by over 600 guests, and the galleries were 
crowded with ladies. I had to make the opening ad- 
dress, and was gratified — my arguments well received 
and favourably commented upon by some of the 
bankers. The speeches continued until midnight. 
These occasions are always too extended, yet the eve- 
ning was not finished — more food and supper at the 
Racquet Club for a few of the selected guests. I got 
away at 1.30 a.m. No wonder public men wear out 
early in life — with us. 

"Arrive in Washington at 1 a.m. Bishop Law- 



1909^ POSTMASTER GENERAL 417 

rence and Julia Lawrence, Endicott Peabody and Mrs. 
Peabody and Amory Lawrence lunched with us. 

'' February 9. — Cabinet meeting. The President 
decides to veto the bill which removes the penalty of 
loss of citizenship for desertion in time of peace from 
the Army or Navy. He is furious with the peace 
crowd, who do not want to keep up the Navy and 
say we will not have war anyway. 

" Root writes me from Hot Springs that he is get- 
ting on beautifully; 'hope to find you in the Cabinet 
when I return, with your decks cleared for action in 
another Department, a Department that needs the 
sound business sense and administrative capacity 
which you have exhibited.' 

" The papers announce that under the Constitution 
Knox is not eligible for the Cabinet, having voted for 
a raise in salary from $8,000 to $12,000 during his 
term as Senator, which does not expire until 1911. 
Comment on the fact that two such eminent jurists as 
Taft and Knox should not have thought of this. 

" February 10. — Alice and the girls leave for 
Boston, where they will remain for a week. 

" Dine with Senator Crane, the Knoxes, Clarks, 
Keans, Foster, Gallinger, Mrs. Slater, etc. All Sen- 
ators but myself, with the exception of Beekman Win- 
throp. Knox came up to me after we had finished our 
cigars and said, ' You are the ranking man, you must 
make the move.' I replied, ' I am looking to the rising 
sun.' He answered, ' I am looking at the sun that is 
shining.' Again, when we were leaving, Knox said 
to his wife, who was talking to me, ' I suppose you 



418 GEORGE yon L. MEYER t/909 

have told all the secrets. Did you tell Meyer that he 
was going into the Cabinet? ' and they both laughed. 

" February 16. — Cabinet meeting. Taft arrived 
after the Cabinet adjourned, about one o'clock. Every 
one had left but the President and myself. He greeted 
me as ' Brother Meyer.' He looked brown and well. 

" Meet Carter and Aldrich in the Finance Com- 
mittee of the Senate, and we agree on a Postal-Sav- 
ings-Bank bill. This would appear to insure its 
passage. 

" The President telephoned me to be at the White 
House at 6.30. Found the President and Taft both 
there, fixing up the message to Congress on the 
Panama Canal, which is to remain a lock canal. Then 
the President turned to me and said, ' I asked Mr. 
Taft if he had decided on his Secretary of the Nav^% 
and he said " Yes, Meyer," and he has consented that 
I may talk with you about it in connection with the 
Naval Policy.' 

" After Taft left, the President and I took a walk 
round the White House — discussed naval affairs. 

"February 17. — Committee on Post Office and 
Post Roads report favourably on a trial in two 
counties of parcel post on rural routes. It is attached 
to the appropriation bill. 

" Taft telephones me to meet him at the Union 
Station at 3.30. Get there just as he is getting out of 
his automobile. We sit down on a bench in the Union 
Station and the secret service men [form] a cordon 
about us. I find he wants me to consider Beekman 
Winthrop for Assistant Secretary of the Navy, which 



19091 POSTMASTER GENERAL 419 

is agreeable to me. He tells me Hale said to him that 
a resolution would be introduced, if I were appointed 
Secretary of the Navy, investigating my relations with 
the Fore River Engine Co. I told him that I never 
owned a share or bond in my life. 

" February 18. — Sent a cable of condolence to the 
Grand Duchess Vladimir on the death of the Grand 
Duke. 

" Last reception of President Roosevelt at the 
White House, given for the Army and Navy — very 
brilliant affair. Supper lasted later than usual, did 
not get home until 1 o'clock. At my table Mrs. 
Straus, Mrs. Grant (born Root), Mrs. Williams, 
Douglas Robinson, Mr. Stickney, and Nicholas Long- 
worth. I could not help realizing with a feeling of 
sadness that this was the last function of the Presi- 
dent's term in the White House. His achievements 
will be fully appreciated later on, when the nation 
realizes his courageous attitude against certain finan- 
cial powers, which had corrupted business standards 
until they felt that with their money they were more 
powerful than the Government, and could do what 
they might want to do. 

'' February 19. — Cabinet meeting. We were all 
photographed by a flashlight before the meeting. The 
President took up the action of Congress in recom- 
mending that half the fleet should be stationed in the 
Pacific and the other half in the Atlantic. Was most 
emphatic in his views, that, while there was any chance 
of having trouble with Japan, either the entire fleet 
should be in the Atlantic or in the Pacific. If one 



420 GEORGE von L. MEYER f^^^^ 

half were there, Japan would have the opportunity of 
crippling us by destroying it before war is declared, 
as she did with Russia. Until we tan have a suffi- 
ciently strong fleet for all purposes in both the At- 
lantic and the Pacific, our men-of-war are safer on the 
Atlantic side. 

" March 1. — President gives a lunch to his ' Ten- 
nis Cabinet ' and some of his hunting friends at the 
White House. 

" A most unique and clever afternoon tea given 
by Mrs. Garfield to the President, Mrs. Roosevelt, and 
the Tennis Cabinet. A miniature tennis court on the 
table, with Teddy bears playing tennis. Booker Wash- 
ington and a Teddy bear having tea together at a little 
table. Secret service men running around the table 
with lanterns [?], etc., all very clever. 

" Those present were the Jusserands, Bacons, 
Pinchots, Winthrops, Knox, Smith, and Alice and 
myself. Jusserand made a speech of presentation of a 
large silver bowl, by which we were all nearly moved 
to tears. I thought Mrs. Garfield would break down. 
Some one asked what should he do with it. I sug- 
gested ' not wash his hands of us,' which reheved the 
situation. 

" March 2. — Final Cabinet meeting. Mr. Roose- 
velt said, ' Before we take up any business, as this is 
our last meeting, I want to say to you that no Presi- 
dent ever received more loyal support from his official 
family than I have received. The work that you have 
done I have received the credit for, which is the same 
in the Army — credit must go to the general in com- 



1909] POSTMASTER GENERAL 421 

mand. The only reward you receive is having the 
knowledge of doing your work well. I refuse to allow 
you to reply ; ' but Garfield said, ' Whatever we have 
done has been inspired by your example.' 

" Before the Cabinet meeting the President called 
me to his desk and said, ' George, it has been a great 
comfort having you in the Cabinet, and we have had 
a good time. It has also been real pleasure to Mrs. 
Roosevelt seeing so much of your wife.' " 

On the following day Mr. and Mrs. Meyer lunched 
at the White House, and the official relations, with 
which so much of true friendship had been mingled, 
came to an end. The happy and arduous two years 
had conspicuously proved Meyer's capacity for val- 
uable administrative work. He had gained, moreover, 
an intimate knowledge of the workings of the national 
government. With this and his previous acquisitions 
he stood uncommonly qualified to serve his country in 
the new labours on which he was about to enter. 



VI 

SECRETARY OF THE NAVY 

(1909-1913) 

If Meyer brought to his new task a valuable equip- 
ment of capacity and experience, it is no less true that 
the Navy Department, at the beginning of the Taft 
administration, stood sorely in need of the most intelli- 
gent and devoted leadership that could be found for 
it. In the seven years of President Roosevelt's admin- 
istration there had been six Secretaries of the Navy. 
No matter how able each and all of these Cabinet 
members may have been, no one of them held his post 
long enough either to acquire a grasp of its many and 
difficult problems, or to work out completely his own 
ideas, of whatever merit, for the improvement of the 
Navy. Every Secretary, moreover, must accomplish 
the larger ends he has in view — since appropriations 
are indispensable — through the agency of Congress ; 
and it is easy to understand that the House and Senate 
Committees on Naval Affairs may well have grown 
weary and confused by so rapid a succession of Secre- 
taries, each, despite the fact that he represented a single 
President with a definite and vigorous naval policy of 
his own, with an individual method of putting it into 
effect. Only a few weeks before Meyer's assumption 

422 



1909-1913} SECRETARY OF THE NAVY 423 

of the post, for example, his immediate predecessor,, 
Mr. Truman H. Newberry, had issued an order radi- 
cally affecting the conduct of navy yards and the 
relations between staff and line officers. The order 
occasioned great dissatisfaction in many quarters. 
How to deal with the situation it created was but one 
of many large and pressing problems with which 
Meyer found himself immediately confronted. The 
broad policies of naval administration involved a scale 
and range of thinking, in terms both national and 
international, which the Post Office, in the very nature 
of things, could not impose. Here, then, was a task, 
for a man prepared to devote himself completely to 
it for the term of four years, calling for the very best 
he had to give, not only through the mastery of infinite 
detail but in the framing of far-reaching plans of vital 
concern to the nation and the world. 

In the course of the year 1909 Meyer's entries in 
the diary from which so many of the foregoing pages 
have been drawn became less regular, and before the 
end of the year they ceased. From this time forth 
there must accordingly be less of personal, intimate 
record than during any of his previous periods of 
national service. It is surprising enough that in the 
crowded life Meyer had led since going to Italy as 
Ambassador, he had commanded the time to make so 
full a chronicle of his daily experience. It is not sur- 
prising that the pressure of his work in the Navy De- 
partment, together with the unflagging continuance 
of his participation in the life of society, brought his 
practice of diary -keeping to an end. Yet for approxi- 



424 GEORGE yon L. MEYER U909-m?, 

mately the first half year there are entries which should 
be included in this book. During the months in which 
they were written Meyer was following a course sim- 
ilar to that pursued through the first part of his postal 
administration — namely, learning the job. With few 
interruptions, therefore, the more illuminating passages 
from his diary, with a few letters, shall be given at 
once. Not far from the time when the last of them 
was written his plans for the Department were well 
formulated. Their precise nature, and the results of 
their application, will be considered when these 
passages from the diary shall have been read. 

'" March 4, 1900. — A fearful blizzard snow-storm, 
trains are arriving hours late. Some of the troops 
have not arrived at all. 

" President and President-elect received, in the 
White House, Vice-President and Vice-President- 
elect and the Cabinet of President Roosevelt. At a 
little after 10 a.m.. President Roosevelt and President- 
elect Taft drove off from the White House in an open 
landau with four horses, followed by the Vice-Presi- 
dents and the Cabinet. Arriving at the Capitol about 
11 A.M., we all assembled in the President's Room, 
where President Roosevelt signed bills until ten min- 
utes before twelve, consulting his individual Cabinet 
officers as to the bills which affected their depart- 
ments. The Cabinet then took their seats in the Sen- 
ate on one side of the Chamber, adjoining the Diplo- 
matic Corps. The members of the Supreme Bench 
were in seats opposite the Diplomatic Corps. The 
galleries were full of ladies, Mrs. Taft in the front 



im-i9m SECRETARY OF THE NAVY 425 

row, and Alice a few seats from her in the same row. 
The Vice-President was then announced and given the 
oath of office by the out-going Vice-President (Fair- 
banks). Then President-elect Taft was led to the 
chair by Senator Lodge, and the oath administered by 
Chief Justice Fuller, who is so old that he did not 
quote a part of the oath correctly. 

"The President (Taft) then read his inaugural in 
the Senate Chamber instead of [on] the Capitol steps, 
on account of the blizzard storm. It lasted three- 
quarters of an hour. It was rather trying for Theo- 
dore Roosevelt to sit in the chair in front of the Presi- 
dent's desk, facing all the Senators during the reading. 
As soon as it was completed, T. R. went up to Mr. 
Taft and congratulated him, and then went out the 
side door followed by his Cabinet. From the Capitol 
he drove to the station, escorted by a delegation of 
1000 men that had come on from New York for that 
purpose. In the President's room Roosevelt received 
his friends and bade them farewell, to the great sorrow 
of all of us. 

" To my surprise Alice never appeared at the 
station until 2.30, and then I found she had been un- 
able to find the auto and she and Secretary Wright 
had walked from the Capitol to the Union Station in 
all the snow and mud in order to be able to say good- 
bye to Mr. and Mrs. Roosevelt. We arrived at the 
White House in time to get a little lunch and then go 
out on the Presidential stand where the President was 
reviewing the procession. The best showing was made 
by the West Point Cadets; the Naval Cadets never 



426 GEORGE VON L. MEYER usoo-ms 

reaching Washington on account of the storm. After 
Governor Draper of Massachusetts, with an escort 
of 3000 troops, passed by, Cabot Lodge and I walked 
home to his house, where we had tea with Mrs. Lodge 
and Dr. Bigelow, and also had a heart-to-heart talk 
about the President that was leaving Washington be- 
hind him, the hole that it made, and the changed 
atmosphere as far as we were concerned. 

" In the evening the girls, Alice, and I attended 
the Inauguration Ball at the Pension Building. I was 
very agreeably disappointed, and it was quite an inter- 
esting sight. We were leaving at 10 o'clock when 
Captain Butt ^ informed us that we were expected at 
the President's table at supper. There were six tables 
in all; at President Taft's, Mrs. Taft, Charley Taft, 
Vice-President Sherman, Mrs. Sherman, Mrs. Bacon, 
Miss Boardman, and myself. We got home before 
twelve. 

*^' March 6. — The Cabinet, with the exception of 
MacVeagh ^ and Dickinson,^ take the oath of office in 
the presence of the President at the White House, the 
oath administered by Chief Justice Fuller. 

'' March 9. — First Cabinet Meeting. All present 
but Dickinson. Secretary Wright continued to fill his 
place. 

" It seemed like a dream at first, with Taft in Roose- 
velt's chair, with Knox "^ on his right and MacVeagh 
on his left. There was quite a judicial air to the whole 

1 Captain Archibald W. Butt, U. S. A., military aide to President 
Taft; drowned on the Titanic in 1912. 

2 Franklin MatVeajih, Secretary of the Treasury. 

3 Jacob M. Dickinson, Secretary of War. 

4 Philander C. Knox, Secretary of State. 



im-wm SECRETARY OF THE NAVY 427 

meeting. I was favourably impressed with Wicker- 
sham as Attorney General. He expresses an opinion 
in a concise and emphatic manner. 

"^ March 10. — Have asked an opinion of the At- 
torney General as to the constitutionality of Congress 
having instructed that eight per cent of the comple- 
ment on men-of-war vessels shall be marines. 

" Went to ride with Lodge, and then called on the 
President by appointment at 7.15. He came down to 
the Red Room in evening dress (with smoking coat). 
Seemed in good spirits; is rather concerned about his 
expenses, since Congress cut off his travelling fund. 
He told me, if they do not restore it, that he will prac- 
tically do none. 

" Went over the marine matter ; he advises doing 
as Congress instructed until the Attorney General 
gives an opinion. 

" March 12. — Cabinet Meeting. We discussed 
the troubles in Central America. The Navy Depart- 
ment has placed its vessels on each coast at the only 
sea-ports in such a way as to prevent Nicaragua from 
attacking San Salvador. Our Navy is much respected 
in South America since the voyage of the fleet. 

" The question of Speakership and what the in- 
surgents combining with the Democrats will be able 
to accomplish. It is very close, but the administration 
having taken a hand, Cannon will be reelected. What 
action will be taken as to this cannot be known until 
after Congress assembles. 

"March 16. — At Cabinet meeting to-day the Sec- 
retary of State read a paper which defined our policy 



428 GEORGE yon L. MEYER um-ms 

in Central America in the future — all action to be in 
conjunction with Mexico. It ensures the neutrality 
of Honduras and contemplates establishing its credit 
by their suggesting that we put in a financial agent 
such as we furnished to San Domingo. 

" Much tact and diplomacy has got to be exercised 
in order to accomplish results and prevent armed in- 
terference on our part. President Taft endorsed the 
Secretary Knox action, and said he would even make 
a show of force in order to maintain peace and stop 
revolutions. 

'' March 20. — Went down to Oyster Bay to lunch 
with Ex-President Roosevelt and Mrs. Roosevelt. 
Lovely day, so I walked from the station to Sagamore 
Hill. Took me just an hour. 

" Theodore came to the door himself and greeted 
me. ' Well, this is nice of you, I am perfectly delighted 
to see you.' Mrs. Roosevelt was sitting in the study 
and was as charming as ever. She is showing a great 
deal of courage over the President's departure within 
a few days. They laughed over Alice and Secretary 
Wright walking down to the station Inauguration 
Day, and remarked how nice it was of her. 

"At lunch all the family were present with the 
exception of Alice Longworth. We all made it a point 
to be gay, Mr. Roosevelt saying that he had been so 
busy that he had not missed the Presidentship a single 
moment. After lunch we adjourned to the big library. 
The President's chair, which he had used in Cabinet, 
arrived. There was an amusing discussion as to where 
it should be placed in the room. After that the beau- 



vm-i9m SECRETARY OF THE NAVY 429 

tiful Turkish rug which had been presented by the 
Sultan of Turkey was considered, as to whether it 
should be cut or not. Mrs. Roosevelt thought she 
should be allowed to do as she hked, while young 
Teddy, who is in the Hartford Carpet Co., looked at 
it as injuring its commercial value. At three I said 
good-bye to the President, wished him good health and 
good sport, and walked backed to the station, arriving 
in New York at 6 p.m. 

'' March 30. — Cabinet Meeting. All present but 
Nagel.^ Decide to send two fast cruisers to meet the 
S.S. Guadaloupe at Trinidad, with Castro on board, 
in order to watch his movements and morally to sup- 
port the present government of Venezuela. 

" Secretary of War speaks of the trial by jury of 
negroes in Tennessee. They asked to have coloured 
juries, but it was found later that they were always 
convicted. When asked the foreman [said], 'We 
know the rascals they bring before [us], and the white 
folks thought that we were going to whitewash our 
own people, so we always convict them.' The coloured 
asked to be tried by white jurors. 

" March 31. — Harvard dinner given to President 
Eliot at the Raleigh ; about 250 present. I sat on the 
left of President Eliot. President Taft, Root, Lodge, 
and others. Ehot made a speech of half an hour, won- 
derful diction, never repeats or hesitates. Speaks of 
what Harvard has done, and how she has done it, 
through groups of men working in harmony. 

" Root made one of the best speeches that I have 

1 Charles Nagel, Secretary of Commerce and Labour. 



430 GEORGE von L. MEYER wos-wis 

heard him make, and ended by referring to Ehot as a 
man, a gentleman, equal to filling any position in any 
court of any Emperor or King, to which the Presi- 
dent may choose to call him. 

" This rather forced President Taft's hand, who 
ended his speech by endorsing what Root had said 
about Eliot." 

The diary may here be interrupted by a reference 
to another Harvard dinner, at which Meyer was one of 
the speakers. In 1909 President Eliot was succeeded 
at Harvard University by President Lowell. At a 
dinner in his honour at the Harvard Club of New York 
City, Meyer set forth the value of college training, 
and used the following words, strongly autobiographic 
in their suggestions : — 

Then comes the power to judge and control men, the 
aspect of the executive, which is perhaps the most important 
of all — the ability to choose capable and trustworthy assist- 
ants as lieutenants and advisers. No executive officer, in busi- 
ness or in government, can even attempt to attend to everything 
himself. It is, in fact, the very essence of a good executive 
that he should know how to delegate certain powers and so to 
arrange his work that his time may be given to the larger 
projects and the more important policies. It is ridiculous to 
suppose that the college man can plunge into the world and 
immediately begin to exercise executive functions. My con- 
tention is, however, that the training which a man receives at 
college makes him far better fitted for utilizing his first expe- 
riences in practical life, preparing him all the more quickly to 
be a leader of men, either in a great or a small way. His life 




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1909-1913} SECRETARY OF THE NAVY 431 

in college has fitted him with a mental grasp — has given him 
the tools, so to speak, with which to attack the job of life. It 
is his own fault if he misuses those implements, for the world 
to-day is more filled with opportunities than it ever was. 

To this should be added, for what it signifies, a 
single sentence from a letter written by Meyer to a 
business associate only a few weeks after his first com- 
ing to Washington : " The longer I live, the more I 
realize that frequently the turning-point in business 
or life is the ability to seize the opportunity." 

To return to extracts from the diary : — 

" April 4. — Take a long ride with Lodge in the 
afternoon. He says Hay was given the Grand Cordon 
Legion of Honour by France, and the Senate refused 
to grant hun leave to accept it. Hay was furious and 
never got over his resentment. 

''^ April 7. — The Attorney General, Wickersham, 
gives a dinner to Mr. Choate. He has grown very 
stout, his waistcoat has become very well padded, the 
result of all the dinners in England. He evidently 
still has some feeling against President Roosevelt, who 
recalled him and appointed Reid. 

" During dinner Jusserand was talking about what 
a wonderful worker Roosevelt was, and how he could 
write upon several subjects the same morning, and 
Choate asked if President Roosevelt could write 
poetry. 

'^ April 8. — The President sent word for [me] 
to come to the White House first thing. I found a 
crowd waiting in the outer rooms. Inside were Lodge 



432 GEORGE von L. MEYER U909-ms 

and Secretary of the Treasury MacVeagh. We talked 
about the tariff, the prospect of free hides and 
lumber. 

" The President wants an inheritance tax. Lodge 
said the states were against it and favoured tax on 
checks and on proprietary medicines. 

''April 9. — Cabinet meeting. Knox jokes about 
the President's speech that he is to make to the new 
Cuban minister. Taft recalls the address that some 
years ago he was to make to the Pope on his arrival 
at the Vatican : ' Payne/ who was Postmaster General 
and rather Presbyterian in his tastes, objected to the 
expressions and the flowery style. President Roosevelt 
looked up and quickly said, " I might say, How are 
you, Mr. Pope? I knew your father the Pope." ' 

" The tariff bill passes the House. 

*''' April 30. — Wickersham, the Attorney General, 
goes to New York, and in a public speech defines the 
administration policy as to trusts, R.R. magnates, etc. 
He said among other things that there could be no 
longer any excuse of any one by pleading ignorance of 
the * Sherman act ' ; that obedience to the laws would 
ensure people from being sued. There had been in the 
past some cases that were taken up without sufficient 
evidence, too hurriedly, and those would be dropped. 
Where there was a case they would be continued. 

" May 1. — Had a long talk with Admiral Sperry 
about the consolidation in Navy Yards. Newberry 
started the matter without giving sufficient thought to 
details, and effect it would have on ordnance equip- 

1 Henry C. Payne, of Wisconsin. 



im-i9m SECRETARY OF THE NAVY 433 

ment and steam engineering. The result now has been 
that the efficient men in those branches of the Navy 
Yards are inspectors without power. Everything has 
been thrown into the bureau of construction and re- 
pairs and the line officers put into the background. I 
can see that sooner or later I shall have a struggle 
with Senator Hale^ on this whole subject, who is 
against the fleet and the line officers. 

" May 28. — President goes to Pittsburg this eve- 
ning and then on to Gettysburg. Had a talk with him 
this afternoon before he started, and urged upon him 
the importance of not attempting to do too much; 
that he owed it to the country and to himself. He 
promises to let up. 

" June 1. — Cabinet Meeting. The President re- 
turns from Pittsburg, etc. Describes his trip, which 
he evidently enjoyed. Tells the story of the tenderfoot 
out West who went into a bar where they were playing 
cards and saw some cheating at cards, nudged his 
neighbour and said, ' Do you see the dealer give him- 
self four aces ? ' * Well,' was the reply, ' he's dealing, 
isn't he?' 

" Knox read a letter from an American friend liv- 
ing in England which describes the English hysteria 
over Germany at the present time. The friend seems 
to have caught it, because he then went on to say 
that we have only Germany to fear, and must keep up 
our Navy, as she was liable to come out some time and 
possibly attack us, as she had a ready-made army of 

1 Eugene Hale, of Maine, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Naval 
Affairs. 



434 GEORGE von L. MEYER U909-i9i3 

German emigrants in North and South America. All 
of which is absurd, and Taft felt the same way about 
it — that all the Germans that he had met in different 
parts of the world preferred to do business out of their 
own colonies rather than in them, as they could make 
more money. In fact, they were underselling the Eng- 
lish merchants everywhere. 

'' June 3. — Call on the President in order to show 
my plan this summer and autumn for withdrawing the 
retired officers from active service in the Navy and fill- 
ing their places with younger men from the active list. 
Also explain in the rough the manner in which I pro- 
pose to work out the reorganization of Navy Yards 
in conjunction with the bureaus in Washington. 

" June 8. — Cabinet Meeting. MacVeagh absent 
in Chicago. Made a speech — referred to the Tariff; 
said we should have a downward revision, but ' not 
down and out.' It has been taken up a good deal in 
the press, and the Senator from Michigan said he 
was not going to be told how he should vote by one 
of the Democratic members of the Cabinet — Mac- 
Veagh having been a Cleveland Democrat. 

'' June 15. — At Cabinet meeting to-day the Presi- 
dent asked each one of us for our opinion as to the 
advisability of his sending in a special message to Con- 
gress [recommending] a tax not to exceed two per 
cent on the net income of corporations. It was the 
unanimous opinion that it was the psychological 
moment to do so; that it would defeat the income tax 
of the Democrats who have made a combine with 
Cummins of Iowa and a few others, and would be 



1909-1918] SECRETARY OF THE NAVY. 435 

the first step in government supervision of corpora- 
tions. 

" The President stated that it would be most un- 
fortunate for the prestige of the Court (Supreme) 
to have at this time to settle against the constitu- 
tionality of the income tax. Therefore an amendment 
should be submitted to all the states. 

^"^ June 18. — Cabinet. Before the meeting I 
chaffed the President that, notwithstanding the fact 
that he had a special meeting of the members of his 
Cabinet, including the Attorney General with the ad- 
dition of Senator Root, not one of them knew or 
remembered that the income tax law had lapsed. 

" We discussed the corporation tax and believed it 
would be accepted by Congress and would result in a 
revenue of about $50,000,000. It would be well taken 
by the public, and eventually advantageous to cor- 
porations, for the reason that, having government 
supervision, it would be reassuring for investors and 
encourage foreigners to invest. 

" June 30. — Commencement Day at Harvard. 
President Abbott Lawrence Lowell, the new Presi- 
dent, presides at Sanders Theatre, and Eliot receives 
degrees of LL.D. and M.D. — the latter rather far- 
fetched — and is made President Emeritus. I attend 
the exercises at Sanders Theatre for the first time since 
I graduated thirty years ago! I find a great change. 
The students who receive degrees wear gowns and the 
professors as well, with colours of different degrees, 
the signification of which I do not understand. Attend 
jthe spread of the Chief Marshal at University. Con- 



436 GEORGE von L. MEYER im9-ms 

gratulate President Lowell and later take the 3 p.m. 
train for New London, arriving at 6.30. Find the 
Dolphin's launch waiting for us at the wharf. 

" July 5. — Took the family out in the Dolphin 
launch and visited the battleship Minnesota lying off 
Marblehead. Captain Sims of gun-practice fame took 
me over the ship. I had an interestmg talk with him 
regarding a board of military experts who shall act 
as critics of naval designs. He strongly favours it, 
and I believe it would be advantageous to appoint one. 
As I left they gave the customary salute of seventeen 
guns. 

" July 8. — At last the tariff bill passes the Sen- 
ate. I went up to the Capitol after dinner, found the 
Senators sweltering in the heat, several of them sitting 
smoking in a room that leads directly from the back 
of the Senate Chamber. The air was suffocating and, 
as there were no windows, lacked ventilation. Senator 
Carter of Montana was lying on a sofa and complained 
of a headache, when I asked him how he was. I sug- 
gested it could not improve as long as he stayed in 
such a badly ventilated room. He answered, ' I guess 
you are right,' got up, and went out. I begged Lodge 
to come out with me on the terrace, which we found 
delightful and really grand, looking over the city with 
its flickering lights and the dim outline of the Wash- 
ington Monument shaft on the banks of the Potomac. 

Senator came out for inspiration, walked up and 

down in a theatrical manner, impatiently waiting for 

■ to finish his harangue to an indifferent and un- 

listening Senate. I left unimpressed by the debaters 



1909-1913] SECRETARY OF THE NAVY 437 

and assured that it would [end] that evening, to the 
relief of the country." 

At about this time Meyer received his first letter 
from Colonel Roosevelt in Africa. It was dated May 
17, and a portion of Meyer's reply to it will tell more 
than his journal has related of the joy he was taking 
in his new work and the foundations he was laying to 
make it effective. 

To Theodore Roosevelt 

' July 9, 1909. 
My dear President, — 

I cannot tell you how pleased I was to get your letter 
and to receive word direct from you that you had had really 
first-class sport. According to the newspapers, it must have 
been extraordinary, and consequently, I was not sure whether 
it had been exaggerated or not. Think of getting six lions 
and two rhinos, etc., etc! It makes my wolf look sick. 

I took Nick and Alice down on the Dolphin from Jersey 
City to say good-bye to Mrs. Roosevelt, and expected to passi 
Saturday there before she sailed ; but I had been fighting an 
attack of influenza in Washington for a week, and, when we 
anchored at Oyster Bay, I did not go ashore, as I felt pretty 
slim. In the middle of the night I was taken down with a 
severe attack of bronchitis and lost my voice. It was pretty 
trying to be unable to go ashore. Mrs. Meyer and my daugh- 
ters arrived in New York Monday night, so on Tuesday we 
stopped at Oyster Bay on our way to Gloucester, in order that 
my wife might see Mrs. Roosevelt; but luck was against us, 
as she was out. 

You are quite right when you say you are sure I am 
enjoying my present position. It is the most interesting work 
I ever had in my life and the officers are a fine set of men. 



I 



438 GEORGE von L. MEYER usos-ms 

I have been looking into the organization of all ship- 
yards, and find that, without exception, all the successful com- 
mercial ship-yards have been organized with a hull division and 
a machinery division. Newberry's attempt was to have one 
manufacturing department in navy yards, which combined hull 
and machinery, and placed everything under the constructor. 
It has created great dissatisfaction, and the result was that 
the engineers were designing and not executing; consequently, 
they were not finding out their own errors and profiting by 
the experience, and it meant, in the end, the deterioration of 
the engineer, which would be disastrous to the fleet. There- 
fore, I have amended his regulations so that the engineer has 
control of the machine shops for steam engineering, etc. I am 
also satisfied that we cannot reorganize ship-yard administra- 
tion in navy yards without taking up the question of rearrange- 
ment and reorganization of bureaus at the same time, and that 
will be a matter of research throughout the summer. I am 
also seriously considering having a Board as critics of the 
military efficiency of designs, and who shall be able to give 
their undivided attention to the subject and make also a 
thorough research into the errors, as well as the improve- 
ments, that have been made in other countries as to battle- 
ships, etc. 

I realize the important feature is the efficiency of the 
fleet — that we must have our navy yards and our fleets in 
actual readiness for any emergency, and that this is as impor- 
tant as it is for a fire-engine to be prepared to quell a fire at 
a moment's notice. 

Taft has come out for a two-per cent excess tax on the 
net incomes of the corporations, and it has been adopted by 
the Senate, which will mean a step towards government super- 
vision of all corporations. It is entertaining to hear the com- 
ments and wails of some individuals who thought they were 



1909-1913} SECRETARY OF THE NAVY 439 

going to get an entire change of policy, and that they would 
be let alone in the future. . . . 

I am enclosing an article which is going the rounds con- 
cerning an address I made on the Navy in New England. 

The fleet is now assembling and the idea is to practise 
mancEuvring at speed, 15-17 knots, and gun practice under 
unfavourable conditions of weather, etc., and, perhaps, 
mancEuvres at night. 

My task in making up the estimates for 1911 was a dif- 
ficult one. Mr. Taft had committed himself to a reduction of 
ten millions in the Navy and as much more in the Army. I 
went to work at it in a manner which I believed would bring 
about the least detriment to the Navy. First, I got together 
the bureau chiefs collectively and went over the estimates, and 
then took the chiefs individually; after that, I assembled all 
the commandants and went over the estimates with them as to 
navy yards, and later tackled them individually, with the re- 
sult that I made a reduction of ten millions from the appro- 
priations for the fiscal year 1910. When I related what I had 
done to Mr. Hale, he said : " It is not possible ; the annual in- 
crease each year will eat up your reduction." However, on 
informing him that the cut was really twenty-four millions and 
that after that I had added fourteen millions in order to build 
the two battleships of the 26,000-ton type, a machine repair- 
ship which shall be able to keep up with the fleet, or the equiva- 
lent expense in destroyers, and 3,000 additional enlistments, 
he acknowledged that the result had been obtained. I thought 
this might interest you. You will be surprised when I tell you 
that on Mr. Hale's first call he suggested that I had an oppor- 
tunity to save from five to ten millions by cutting down the 
size of battleships ! It is needless to say that that was not 
done, and I have signed the specifications which call for the 
two 26,000-ton battleships of the most modern and approved 



440 GEORGE von L. MEYER U909-mB 

type. The bids will be called for probably on the 15th of 
August. 

You would be surprised, possibly, at the tremendous 
interest which is being taken throughout the country in your 
trip and the satisfaction everywhere with the good sport that 
you are having. 

With best wishes for continued good luck, believe me, 
Always faithfully yours, 

G. V. L. Meyee. 
Congratulations to Kermit. 

Hon. Theodore Roosevelt, 
Juja Farm, 
Nairobi, 

British East Africa. 
Tariff bill passed by the Senate last night. Went to House 
this morning. Conference committees appointed. President 
got back from Lake Champlain this afternoon. 

G. V. L. M. 

" July 10. — Took Cabot Lodge out with me to 
Fort Myer, in order to see the Wrights fly in their 
aeroplane at 7 p.m. A very successful flight and most 
interesting. It is the beginning of a new mode of 
transportation and the aeroplane of the future, twenty- 
five years from now, will be as different from what 
we saw to-day as is the present transatlantic steamer 
from the Fulton steamer that first plied on the 
Hudson.^ 

lA newspaper interview with Meyer in February, 1911, shows that 
even then the rapid development of aviation for war purposes was not at 
all foreseen. He was asked about the future of aeroplanes, and an- 



^09-1913] SECRETARY OF THE NAVY 441 

"" July 13. — First Cabinet meeting since the Presi- 
dent's return from Champlain celebration. He looks 
well and it does not seem to have fatigued him. In 
fact I think he rather enjoyed the trip. The French 
Ambassador was also on this occasion one of the 
speakers at Champlain. There is considerable rivalry 
between the French and German Ambassador. They 
have both stayed late in Washington on account of the 
tariff. 

" July 16. — Cabinet meeting. Previous to the 
meeting, about twenty Congressmen stood in a circle 
about the President and endeavoured to commit him to 
the higher rates on lumber, paper, coal ores, and a duty 
on hides. They left realizing that they had not made 
any headway with the President. I could see that 
some of the remarks of the Congressmen irritated him 
not a little. But he ended up with his smile! 

"July 18 (Sunday). — Pass the morning review- 
ing papers in connection with the Department. Wick- 
ersham and I lunch at my house and then go out to 
Chevy Chase and play fifteen holes of golf. The Pres- 
ident would hke to play, but does not on account of 
public sentiment. He rides on horse-back, which is 
not criticized — a fine distinction. 

" July 20. — Cabinet meeting. Took up the en- 
tire morning in considering estimates for 1911. The 

swered: "That they will be used as fighting machines is very doubtful. 
It has been suggested that they could drop explosives on war vessels and 
forts. There are some barbarities, however, that are even prohibited in 
war. Besides, Germany has a gim that pumps lead into the air as thick 
as rain, and an aeroplane could be shot to pieces before it got near 
enough to work any damage." 

Evidently Germany foresaw the prohibited " barbarities." 



442 GEORGE von L. MEYER U909-ms 

first hour was spent, however, in Mr. Taft stating his 
position on the tariff and his attitude as to articles that 
should go on the free list. He favoured free hides, 
ore, and oil, reduced duties, especially on lumber and 
coal. Asked each member of the Cabinet his opinion. 
Knox surprised [me] by saying that he did not think 
he was sufficiently informed to give advice. The At- 
torney General (Wickersham), Hitchcock, and my- 
self agreed that he should hold to the free articles 
which he had enumerated and give a little if necessary 
on the lumber and coal duties. 

'' July 22. — Representatives of various interests 
are in Washington looking to protection of their 
goods, etc., thus making it harder to get the Confer- 
ence Committee to come to a conclusion. The tariff 
bill should not be a compromise, the result of puUing 
and hauling. We should have a tariff commission. 

" July 23. — Cabinet meeting. All present but 
Ballinger.^ We went over finally the various estimates 
and the Secretary of Treasury stated that they showed 
a saving of $50,000,000 over the appropriations of 
1910. 

" The President showed less hopefulness about the 
tariff bill and the outcome of the Conference. He 
appeared for the first time put out and discouraged, 
and said that he would like to tell some of the mem- 
bers that they could go to hell. He is inclined to let 
them know that, unless they incorporate free hides, 
free oil, and free ore, he will not sign the bill. 

" Told the President that I was going home for 

1 Richard A. Ballinger, Secretary of the Interior. 



1909-191SI SECRETARY OF THE NAVY 443 

Sunday. He hesitated a moment and then said, ' All 
right, old man.' 

""July 27. — Cabinet meeting. I told the Presi- 
dent after the meeting that the people I had met in 
New York, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts were 
with him on his tariff policy, and that they recognized 
the fact of Speaker Cannon's disloyalty in the way 
he had made up the Conference Committee on the part 
of the House; also his outrageous effort to raise the 
glove schedule and prevent the proper reductions. If 
he should give in, it would discredit [him] before the 
country and be a decided setback for his administra- 
tion. He replied, ' I shall not give in, and if neces- 
sary will refuse to sign the bill and call another session 
in October.' 

" July 28. — Mrs. Townsend gives a dinner to the 
President at the Country Club: Secretary MacVeagh, 
Wickersham, Aldrich, Root, the Longworths, the 
Huntington Wilsons, Winthrops, and Woodbury 
Blairs, Bob Bacon, Charley MacCawley, and Captain 
Butt. After dinner the President called Root and 
myself to sit beside him on the piazza. He then told 
us of his tribulations with the Conference Committee 
and what Cannon was trying to do for Littauer by 
raising rates on ladies' gloves in order to pay a political 
debt. Aldrich came up and asked if he could have 
a private talk with the President, as the Conference 
Committee had agreed on a report. I had already 
warned the President of an attempt to get him to 
compromise for a small duty on hides and increase on 
lumber. 



444 GEORGE von L. MEYER um-ms 

''July 29. — The President turns down the report 
of the Conference Committee on the Tariff. They had 
attempted to put him in a hole and he refused to go 
there, but stood firm on free hides and a low duty on 
ores and coal, with lumber at $1.25 and not $1.50. 

" July 30. — Was unable to attend the Cabinet 
meeting. 

"The President wins out! Senate and House 
members in Conference Committee give in on free 
hides and decided reductions on coal, ore, and lumber, 
with no increase on ladies' gloves. 

" This is a great victory for the President, and 
very important throughout the country, as feeling was 
running very strong. 

" The Wrights make their flight to Alexandria and 
back from Fort Myer, carrying a passenger and 
averaging a rate of 42 miles an hour in their aeroplane. 

''July 31. — Call on the President. Congratulate 
him on his tariff victory. Also regret that on account 
of illness was unable to play golf with him on Thurs- 
day at Chevy Chase. 

" As I have an attack of cohtis, he advises me to go 
away at once in order to get a rest and change. The 
House is to vote on the bill this afternoon and it will 
then go to the Senate Monday at 10 o'clock. 

" On the motion to recommit it was only defeated 
by 5 votes. On the passage it was carried by 11 votes; 
not much of a margin, and if the President had not 
taken hold, it would undoubtedly have been recom- 
mitted. 

" It is felt that Taft lost the opportunity to use the 



im-iom SECRETARY OF THE NAVY 445 

big stick on Congress which [T.R.?] would not have 
allowed to pass by. 

" August 21. — Small Cabinet meeting, lasting 
from 3 until 7 p.m., held at Beverly in President Taft's 
summer house on Burgess Point. 

" Take up the dispute between Pinchot and Bal- 
linger, Secretary of the Interior, concerning reserva- 
tion of lands, the formation of the tariff commission, 
speeches to be made by the President. 

" September 5. — Secretary Ballinger is to lay 
his side of the case before the President some time 
to-morrow. It looks to me as though Pinchot, in his 
zeal for reservation and irrigation, has gone further 
than the law warrants, and that Ballinger has pro- 
ceeded according to the strict interpretation of the law. 
Besides, Pinchot forwnrded charges of one Glavis 
against BaUinger without first thoroughly investigat- 
ing. It looks to me as though Glavis was trying to 
cook up a case against Ballinger, and I do not believe 
that the President will put up with disloyalty of a 
subordinate against his chief (Balhnger). He, the 
President, intends to look to his Cabinet officers and 
hold them responsible." 

After this entry the items in the diary are too few 
and unimportant for reproduction. It is unfortunate 
that further comments on the BaUinger case by a mem- 
ber of Mr. Taft's Cabinet are lacking, and, still more, 
for the sake of political history, that the diary had 
long been discontinued when in March of 1912 Theo- 
dore Roosevelt assumed the leadership of the " Pro- 



446 GEORGE von L. MEYER Ii909-i9i3 

gressive movement." Here especially such records of 
daily occurrences as Meyer had long been wont to keep 
would have possessed great interest and value. They 
might, however, have beguiled the reader from the 
central purpose of this chapter — which is, of course, 
to present the record of Meyer's administration of the 
Navy Department. 

Among the voluminous papers, published and un- 
published, bearing upon his conduct of that branch 
of the government is found a statement of " Salient 
Points in Secretary Meyer's Administration of the 
Navy Department from March 4, 1909, to March 4, 
1913." The facts which it brings together might be 
assembled from a great variety of other sources — 
annual reports, newspaper and magazine articles, cor- 
respondence and speeches, representing in their mass 
an extraordinary quantity of individual labour. It 
would, however, be idle to attempt another summary, 
so adequate and comprehensive, of Mr. Meyer's work 
as Secretary of the Navy. The " Salient Points " are 
as follows : — 



1. After a very careful study and thorough investigation 
of business methods of successful commercial organizations, a 
complete reorganization of the Navy Department was put into 
effect by Mr. Meyer, on lines which resulted in greatly in- 
creased efficiency and in considerable reduction in cost. Under 
the old system, the numerous chiefs of bureaus each had to 
come to the Secretary to get his signature to papers requiring 
large expenditure of Government funds, and there had been 
no general supervision of such expenditures to bring about 



i909-i9m SECRETARY OF THE NAVY M7 

eflSciency and economy. Mr. Meyer organized a council of 
aids and divided the business of the Navy Department into 
four parts, each part being under the supervision of one of 
these aids. The aids were responsible advisers for the Secre- 
tary and kept him fully informed on all the affairs that came 
under their several departments. 

2. The reorganization of the navy yards was then taken 
up on the principle that the navy yards existed for the needs 
of the active fleet, and that the fleet is not for the purpose of 
making work for the navy yards. Routine docking and repair 
periods were established ; yard methods were improved ; and the 
employment of a steady force of highly-trained and efficient 
mechanics and workmen was thereby secured. Mr. Meyer in- 
stituted quarterly conferences at Washington of the Command- 
ants of all the navy yards, so that there might be uniformity 
of methods and elimination of inefficient conditions at each 
yard. He divided the industrial work in the yards in two 
departments, — Hull and Machinery, — placing a constructor 
in charge of the hull work and an experienced line officer in 
charge of the engineering work. 

3. In order to increase the efficiency of the yards and 
to reduce the cost of work as far as possible, he went abroad 
to study the various methods of shop-management in operation 
at the big shipbuilding plants. After a thorough study, he 
introduced a modification of the Vickers' system, which has al- 
ready begun to show increased efficiency with reduced cost. 

4. The active fleet was reorganized and put on an efficient 
war basis. Seventeen battleships were maintained at all times 
in cruising condition at sea, the fleet being divided into four 
divisions of five vessels each (and an additional vessel for the 
flag-ship of the Commander-in-Chief), one ship of each division 
being at the yards for repairs. 

5. He established reserve fleets on the Atlantic and 



448 GEORGE VON L. MEYER nsos-ms 

Pacific coasts. It had been the custom to place out of com- 
mission for repairs vessels of considerable military value, and 
Mr. Meyer found that this resulted in great deterioration and 
considerable expense for extensive repairs from time to time. 
He directed that these vessels should be maintained in a state 
of material readiness at all times, so that in time of war they 
would form the second line of defense. He mobilized the fleets 
on the Atlantic, Pacific, and Asiatic stations once each year, 
and by such mobilization demonstrated the efficiency of the 
vessels and also any deficiencies which required remedial action. 

6. He advocated a continuous-building programme, with a 
minimum yearly construction of two battleships and the cor- 
responding number of auxiliaries, in order to maintain a fleet 
adequate for the country's needs. 

7. He urged the Council of National Defense, composed 
of Cabinet Officers, Congressmen, and officers of the Army and 
Navy, to outline a definite naval policy for the country. 

8. The gunnery efficiency of the fleet increased remark- 
ably under Mr. Meyer's direction. When he took office, the 
gunnery practices of the ships were held in smooth water, in 
closed harbours, and at very short ranges. At the end of his 
administration, the ships were firing at ranges of from six to 
nine miles in the open sea, under rough weather conditions and 
in battle formations. 

9. During Mr. Meyer's administration, engineering com- 
petitions were introduced in the fleet. These resulted in great 
reduction in expenditure of coal and oil, and in greatly in- 
creased steaming radius of the fleet. They also developed a 
spirit of self-dependence in the vessels of the fleet, and they 
were encouraged to make their own repairs at sea, thereby mak- 
ing them practically independent of navy yards. The result 
was a very high state of engineering efficiency. 

10. He established a system of inspections of ships, with 



m9-i9m SECRETARY OF THE NAVY 449 

the result that useless repairs were discontinued and unserv- 
iceable ships were sold. 

11. He established a central cost-accounting system at 
navy yards, which put the record of cost on a practical com- 
mercial basis. 

12. A general storekeeping system was inaugurated on 
all vessels of the Navy, with a competition that resulted in 
large economies in the expenditure of stores. 

13. He studied the subject of the number of navy yards 
necessary for the fleet, and found that a great deal of money 
was wasted on yards of no military value. He therefore abol- 
ished several yards whose yearly maintenance cost was over a 
million and a half dollars, and advocated, for war efficiency, 
the consolidation of certain other yards. 

14. Mr. Meyer advocated the extensive use of wireless 
for all Government work, and also gave every encouragement 
to the development of aircraft and submarines. 

15. He enlarged the dry docks at the various navy yards 
to meet the requirements of future years. 

16. He gave special attention to the commissioned and 
enlisted personnel, and issued instructions that were destined to 
promote their efficiency and contentment. 

17. He established a course of instruction at the Naval 
War College, and also a post-graduate school at the Naval 
Academy for officers. For enlisted men, he established high- 
grade schools for their mechanical instruction in many places 
on both coasts. 

18. He gave particular attention to the comfort and edu- 
cation of the enlisted men on board ship, and succeeded in mak- 
ing them happy and contented. 

19. He believed that the punishments in the Navy had 
been too severe, and he endeavoured, particularly in the case 
of young men and first offenders, to give them another chance. 



450 GEORGE von L. MEYER um-ms 

With this end in view, he established disciplinary barracks to 
which men were sent instead of to prison. The prison stripes 
were done away with and the men were encouraged to stud}^ and 
were taught useful trades. The results were entirely successful, 
and a large proportion of the men were returned to the service 
in good standing instead of being permitted to degenerate into 
hardened criminals. 

20. He advocated and secured a naval reserve, a medical 
reserve corps, a dental corps, and a dental reserve corps. 

21. During the last year of his administration, while at 
the annual mobilization at New York, the President of the 
United States made the following comment : — 

" Fleet Pkepabed for Battle 

" I cannot forbear to congratulate the Secretary of the 
Navy and the officers and men of the fleet on the magnificent 
appearance which, in this grand review of these two days, the 
fleet presents. I am sufficiently advised of the preparedness of 
the vessels to know that, when they pass me to-morrow in front 
of the Statue of Liberty, they would be ready to meet an 
enemy outside of Sandy Hook, both those vessels on the active 
list and those on the reserve, with their guns shotted and am- 
munition enough in store to do effective battle for their country. 

"The Secretary of the Navy has consistently laboured to 
bring about a system of control in the Navy Department which 
shall be military rather than civil, and directed to fighting 
rather than merely to manufacture and industrial work. A 
navy is for fighting, and if its management is not efficiently 
directed to that end the people of this country have a right to 
complain. The institution of naval aids to the Secretary, re- 
sembling in some respects the General Staff of the Army, has 
brought about a condition adapted to a quick preparation of 




f^,^0j 




y^ -ir; 



PS ^ 



1909-1913] SECRETARY OF THE NAVY 451 

fighting units and a quick mobilization of squadrons and fleets 
that never has been possible before in the history of that 
department. 

" It is true that there are needed more auxiliary vessels 
than we now have, were we to enter upon a war of large pro- 
portions ; but it is satisfactory to know that the time in which 
such auxiliary vessels could be prepared is not prohibitive, and 
is much less than would be needed to add battleships. I sin- 
cerely hope that whatever party comes into power the policy 
of two battleships a year will be continued until, through the 
Panama Canal and otherwise, the needs of the Pacific coast 
for its defence shall be satisfied and our people whose states 
abut on that great ocean may feel that they, too, are receiving 
the benefit of the sums expended from the National Treasury 
for adequate naval defense." 

This summary of accomplishment should be fol- 
lowed by a series of brief statements, made by Mr. 
Meyer himself, setting forth the general principles 
which his specific changes in the administration of the 
Navy were designed to embody : — 

The Fleet is the Navy. 

In war nothing fails like failure. 

In order to have success we must have efficiency. 

To have efficiency we must have a definite policy. 

To bring about a definite policy we have to have coopera- 
tion and coordination. 

To bring about this cooperation we have to have an intel- 
ligent understanding. 

The Monroe Doctrine is no stronger than the Navy; the 
Navy is no stronger than the Fleet ; and the Fleet is the Navy. 

The Navy Yards exist on account of, and for, the Fleet. 



452 GEORGE von L. MEYER um-wis 

The value of the objects, both general and specific, 
sought and in large measure attained by Mr. Meyer 
need not be argued. But important changes in so 
complex an organization as the Navy Department 
cannot be wrought without opposition. Meyer en- 
countered his full share of this — especially from Con- 
gressional committees, after the elections of 1910 
deprived the Republican party of the entire control 
of the Government, and from staff officers of the Navy 
whose powers were curtailed by the adoption of a new 
policy. It would be superfluous here to recount the 
details of this opposition, as it would also be to study 
minutely the score of " salient points " which have 
been enumerated. A few of them, however, call for 
something more than a mere statement of their es- 
sence. Among the chief of these were the reorganiza- 
tion of the Navy Yards, the improved methods of cost- 
accounting, and the change in the bureau system 
which took as long a step in the direction of a General 
Staff for the Navy as existing legislation permitted. 

It should be said first of all that, except for a few 
matters on which immediate decisions were imperative, 
Meyer instituted his new methods in the Department 
only after months of deliberation and study. He knew 
the value of sound advice, and promptly sought it. 
His own attitude toward the need of it was well de- 
fined in his first Annual Report, dated December 4, 
1909: — 

In the past seven years there have been six Secretaries of 
the Navy. How may the Secretary, lacking expert knowledge 



m9-iDm SECRETARY OF THE NAVY 453 

in the various duties, but with full authority and responsibility 
for the complete conduct of the Department, adequately direct 
all the varied operations? It would seem proper that he should 
be provided with responsible and experienced expert advisers, 
on whom he may rely, but who shall not in any way be able 
to assume any of his authority. 

The general principles of responsible advice are reason- 
ably clear. The facility of obtaining advice is in the exact 
ratio of its irresponsibility, whereas duly responsible and satis- 
factory advice is most difficult to obtain. Advice on all sub- 
jects may be had for the asking; but, as a rule, it would not 
be advice that it would be wise to follow. Its authors are not 
responsible. 

i 

For advice that he could follow Meyer turned at 

once to responsible advisers; he not only made a care- 
ful study of the reports and recommendations of 
previous Secretaries and special boards of inquiry, but 
appointed such boards himself, especially the " Swift 
Board," to consider possible improvements in the 
organization of the Navy, and took counsel of the 
Attorney-General with regard to changes that might 
be introduced without asking Congress for new legis- 
lation. This practical approach to the problems before 
him was followed by their solution through the issu- 
ance of obviously practical orders. The whole object 
of these orders was to remove a condition which one 
of his recent predecessors had defined as that of 
" power without knowledge in one place and know- 
ledge without power in another place." 

The changes in the conduct of the Navy Yards 
introduced by Secretary Newberry at the very end of 



454 GEORGE von L. MEYER uoos-ms 

the Roosevelt administration had exalted the influence 
of staff officers — construction and engineer — and 
diminished that of the line officers, the men under 
whom fighting ships must go into battle. Meyer had 
not observed the Russo-Japanese war in vain. The 
Russian Navy had afforded a tragic example of the 
results of staff, or shore, domination; the Japanese 
Navy precisely the opposite, both in its superiority and 
in the cause thereof. Meyer accordingly determined 
to make the Navy Yards quite secondary in impor- 
tance to the fleet, as a potential instrument of war, and 
wholly contributory to its welfare. He divided the 
work of the Yards into its two natural branches of 
" Hull " and " Machinery," assigned this work to spe- 
cially trained experts, but gave to the line officers, 
constantly practised in handling their vessels at sea, 
a new responsibility for their structural and mechanical 
up-keep both before and after repairs were needed. 
The ship afloat and ready for the most effective action 
became, as it should be, the object of prime considera- 
tion. The Yards themselves had the benefit of the 
special supervision of Mr. Beekman Winthrop, Assist- 
ant Secretary of the Navy throughout Mr. Meyer's 
administration of the Department. 

As a man of business Mr. Meyer soon discovered 
that the method of cost-accounting pursued in the 
Navy especially in the Yards, left much to be desired. 
The Navy was, in one of its aspects, a vast industrial 
enterprise, to which the best methods of modern busi- 
ness could be applied with great advantage. Chartered 
accountants of large experience were accordingly en- 



m<j-i9m SECRETARY OF THE NAVY 455 

gaged to make a thorough investigation of this impor- 
tant subject, — first at the Boston Navy Yard, — • 
with the result that the system introduced there was 
extended, with large consequent economies, throughout 
the Navy. 

These measures of management and book-keeping, 
like many other of the methods of administration intro- 
duced by Mr. Meyer, had to do with outward organi- 
zation of the Department, the accomplishment of its 
daily business. There was always a larger matter to 
be considered, the matter of general naval policy. The 
words about responsible advice which have been quoted 
suggest with sufficient clearness that Meyer, as a 
civilian, was not so confident of his own opinion when 
he became Secretary of the Navy as to rely upon it 
unaided by expert knowledge. The machinery for 
commanding this help was anything but adequate. 
Boards of inquiry could be appointed from time to 
time, as they had been and continued to be, but there 
was no established provision for keeping the Secretary 
of the Navy in constant touch with the best thought 
in the Department. Since 1842 the general work of 
the Department had been conducted by the bureaus, 
which had grown from five to eight in number. The 
bureau chiefs lacked ultimate authority, and their 
duties frequently overlapped. The imperfect working 
of the system under pressure was revealed by the fact 
that in the Civil War it was necessary to give an 
Assistant Secretary the management of an " Operating 
Division," and in the war with Spain to create the 
" Strategy Board." The general looseness of organi- 



456 GEORGE von L. MEYER U909-wi3 

zation was entirely foreign to Meyer's administrative 
standards. He accordingly divided the work of the 
Navy into its four essential parts of Operations, Per- 
sonnel, Material, and Inspections, and appointed a 
specially qualified flag officer as aid for each of these 
Divisions. A personal aid for his own office was also 
created. The bureaus were not abolished. All their 
work, however, was found to fall under the headings 
of Personnel and Material; and its more adequate 
performance was ensured through its direction by the 
head of the Department, acting on the expert advice 
of an officer not involved in the daily routine of the 
bureau. In the Division of Inspections a desirable 
change was effected through transferring the act of 
inspection from officials who had themselves been 
responsible for the work under scrutiny to others not 
thus responsible. 

Under Mr. Meyer's conception of the Navy, as an 
immediately potential instrument of war, the Aid for 
Operations, whose particular subject of study was the 
disposition and exercise of the fleet, held a post of 
special importance. All four of the aids were estab- 
lished in close proximity to the Secretary's office, so 
that daily consultations were easily possible. They 
held a meeting at least once a week with the Secretary. 
This new order of things, not requiring special legis- 
lation, yet creating something very like a General 
Staff for the Navy, was set up in December of 1909. 
Early in 1910 Congress definitely authorized a year's 
trial of the arrangement. Besides the weekly meetings 
of the aids, there was a monthly meeting of the bureau 



m9-i9m SECRETARY OF THE NAVY 457 

chiefs and the aids with the Secretary. The yard com- 
mandants of each coast were assembled for quarterly 
consultation. Once a year all the commandants met 
with the Aid for Material and the Director of the 
Navy Yards, in Washington. The total result of the 
new provisions was a system of marked efficiency, 
highly approved by the Navy itself, and bearing 
notable fruits in its condition. 

In January, 1910, the Engineering Magazine pub- 
lished an article, " Sanity in Naval Organization,'* 
which ended with the following paragraph : — 

It was hoped and believed that, with the advent of a 
President who had been trained as a judge, the spirit emanating 
from the Chief of the Administration would actuate his 
cabinet officers, and matters of serious moment would be given 
careful study and adequate consideration, before action was 
taken involving such serious matters as the organization of a 
great Department. This anticipation has not been disap- 
pointed, and the United States Is to be congratulated on the 
direction of the Navy Department by such a chief as Secretary 
Meyer, whose actions thus far have shown a splendid grasp of 
the situation and executive ability of a very high order. If 
his future conduct of the office should be along the lines which 
have been followed thus far, — and we sincerely hope that this 
will be the case, — we predict that his name will go down as 
that of one of the great Secretaries and great administrators 
in the history of the United States Navy. 

When Mr. Meyer went out of office in 1913, 
ncbody imagined that the Navy would have so early 
an opportunity to prove its mettle in the most crucial 



458 GEORGE von Li. MEYER imo-wis 

of tests. Between 1913 and 1917 many friends of the 
Navy deplored changes in its organization which ap- 
peared to do away with important elements of his 
work. At this moment there is not the slightest occa- 
sion to raise points of controversy. The issue of the 
American participation in the war by sea, left, in the 
good naval phrase, " glory enough to go round." But 
Meyer should now receive his share of it, for the most 
competent naval opinion is strongly to the effect that 
the Division of Operations, the direct outgrowth of 
the office of Aid for Operations, — the aid who in the 
nature of things was expected to fulfil functions of 
commanding importance in time of war, — was an 
agency of supreme value in the recent conflict. For 
this it is but just to bear in mind with special gratitude 
the distinctive contribution of Mr. Meyer to the effi- 
cacy of the Navy in its hour of opportunity. If the 
system of aids did not last long enough to accomplish 
its full purpose, and did not receive the final legisla- 
tive sanction by which Mr. Meyer hoped to see its 
personal responsibilities strengthened, his greater utili- 
zation of the line officers of the Navy stands as a per- 
manent gain. With this achievement in mind Admiral 
Sims ^ has recently written in a letter from which it 
is permitted to quote : — 

I admired him very much and believe that his administra- 
tion of the Navy Department was of lasting benefit to the 

1 The interest of Admiral Sims's testimony is not diminished by the 
fact that it fell to Meyer, as Secretary of the Navy, in January, 1911, to 
issue the General Order containing President Taft's public reprimand to 
Commander Sims, as he then was, for having declared in a speech in 
London that " if the time ever comes when the British Empire is seriously 
menaced by an external enemy, it is my opinion that you may count upon 



im-wm SECRETARY OF THE NAVY 459 

service. . . . Mr. Meyer's great service to the Navy was that 
he placed the control of the Navy, and particularly the con- 
trol of the design of all of our vessels, in the hands of line 
officers. Before his time, this design was in the hands of a 
combined board of line and staff officers, and was necessarily 
dominated to a large extent by the Chief of the Bureau of 
Construction and Repair — this because the other members of 
the board were intensely occupied men who could not give the 
necessary study and attention to the subject. 

Determination of the military characteristics of the de- 
signs of all our vessels is now in the hands of the General 
Board, which is a body of officers that, for this purpose, is 
composed entirely of line officers. They make a continuous 
study of the designs of ships ; and since this reform was made, 
we have designed ships which are at least the equal, and 
probably the superior, of any of those in the world. 

In the previous chapter reference was made to 
Meyer's selection of competent men for work to be 
done under his direction, to his habit of trusting them 
and holding them responsible, and to the consequent 
enthusiasm of his assistants in their several tasks. This 
was precisely as true in his administration of the Navy 
as of the Post-Office Department. He thoroughly 
enjoyed his association with officers of the Navy, and 
they in turn found pleasure in working with him. One 
of his personal aids has recalled the standard set by 
Meyer's own industry. This aid, now a rear-admiral, 

»jvery man, every dollar, every drop of blood of your kindred across the 
sea." Admiral Sims's personal part in the fulfilment of this prophecy 
will be remembered long after the reprimand is forgotten. It is worth 
noting, moreover, that the indiscretion would have passed unnoticed had 
it not caused President Taft to receive vehement protests from " German- 
American " societies. 



460 GEORGE von L. MEYER U009-i9n 

remembers travelling frequently with him from New 
York to Boston by the ten o'clock train, in which 
Meyer, spreading his office papers on a table set up 
before his chair in the car, would lose himself so com- 
pletely in them that lunch was quite ignored until 
after the arrival of the train at three o'clock. The 
same associate and friend recalls a separate and char- 
acteristic incident — the pursuit of Meyer into the 
South, where he had gone from Washington with 
friends for a brief holiday, by a member of his staff 
who knew that his chief would want to have his pleas- 
ures interrupted for the immediate decision, thus in 
fact secured, upon an important matter that had unex- 
pectedly come up. The whole question, says the aid, 
would have been laid aside until the return of any 
other Secretary. 

Still another incident is related by Admiral Leutze, 
who was in charge of the Brooklyn Navy Yard while 
the battleship Florida was building there in 1910. On 
the Saturday — June 18 — of Colonel Roosevelt's 
landing in New York after his African hunting-trip, 
a violent wind blew over the crane on the government 
floating derrick, Hercules, used in lifting heavy armour- 
plate for the Florida. Meyer was on the Dolphin 
engaged in greeting the former President. On Sun- 
day, when Meyer was to visit Roosevelt at Oyster 
Bay, he received an urgent appeal from Admiral 
Leutze to come to the Navy Yard, inspect the damage 
wrought by the wind, and approve, if he would, the 
course the Admiral had taken. Meyer immediately 
modified his plans for the day, visited the Yard, and 



1909-1913} SECRETARY OF THE NAVY 461 

learned from its Commandant that, without authority, 
he had signed a contract the night before with a wreck- 
ing company for the immediate repairs without which 
both the work on the Florida and the whole building 
programme of the Navy would have been seriously de- 
layed. Meyer instantly approved the Commandant's 
action, telling him that he had saved the Department 
a great deal of money. Admiral Leutze went on to 
remind the Secretary that the House had just passed 
a deficiency bill, which would go to the Senate the 
next day, Monday, and that this expense must be 
added to it. Meyer began telegraphing vigorously to 
Washington, with the result that the item was intro- 
duced into the bill in the Senate, and agreed upon by 
the House on Tuesday — a " record case," as Admiral 
Leutze beheves, of expedition in such business. It 
can hardly be doubted that the impression Meyer had 
produced upon Congressional committees by his ap- 
pearances before them, prepared to answer intelli- 
gently, and without promptings from subordinates, 
their questions on all manner of naval topics, had pre- 
pared Congress to act favourably upon this emergency 
request as coming from a Secretary who knew what 
he was talking about. 

It was devotion of this kind to the interests of the 
Navy that gave to so many of its officers the warm 
feeling which they entertained for him. His devotion 
to his friends was of the same nature. A fellow 
member of Mr. Taft's Cabinet — gratefully recalling 
Meyer's appreciation of all the humours of the meet- 
ings of that body — relates also a characteristic in- 



462 GEORGE vox L. MEYER li909-ms 

stance of his thoughtfulness for a friend in distress. 
Riding with Meyer one morning before their office 
duties began, this Cabinet officer lost control of his 
horse, which ran away and threw him. Meyer was 
greatly concerned for the possible consequences. The 
two men motored home together. In the course of 
the morning a naval surgeon called, under orders from 
Meyer, to examine the victim of the accident. Noth- 
ing serious was found, but before the office day was 
done, Meyer himself called for his colleague and in- 
sisted, against his protestations, upon taking him for 
a motor drive and making sure that all was well. 

As there is httle of ^Meyer's diary to draw upon for 
the details of his daily life during his four years at 
the head of the Naiy Department, so his correspond- 
ence yields less than in other periods. Through most 
of this time he was not separated from his family, and 
there was far less occasion for reporting by letter to 
officials of the Government than, for example, there 
had been while he was in Russia. In the files of his 
correspondence, however, are found a few letters which 
should be given here for what they reveal of the details 
of his work and of the time in which it was done. 
They will be presented in chronological order, with the 
few words of introduction that may be needed. 

To Theodore Roosevelt 

March 8, IPOP. 
" My dear Mr. President, — 

I was terribly put out with myself after I learned that 
your train did not leave until five o'clock, and for not going 



1909-1913] SECRETARY OF THE NAVY 463 

down again before three to make sure that you had gotten away 
on time. 

After Governor Draper and the Massachusetts troops 
had passed, Cabot and I left and walked to his house and had 
a cup of tea, where we talked over everything, with his wife 
and Doctor Bigelow. A rather depressed group it was, too. 

Yesterday Cabot and I took a ride and went along one 
of the paths which we have so often accompanied you on. We 
missed you very much. The whole atmosphere has changed, 
and it seems that the ginger, for a time, has gone out. 

This morning I suspended the order which Newberry, 
among a raft of other papers, got you to sign, practically 
abolishing the Pensacola and New Orleans Navy Yards. I am 
in full sympathy with the policy of only keeping up the Navy 
Yards which are important and necessary, and of reducing the 
expenditures to a minimum at the other Yards ; but this order 
has raised a good deal of feeling in Louisiana and Florida, and 
the commercial bodies, as well as citizens, are on the backs of 
the Senators. I gave a hearing to the delegations from 
Louisiana and Florida yesterday, and McEnery seemed very 
much exercised, as was Foster.^ As you know, they have been 
your supporters, and it is very important to have their good- 
will during the next four years in the support of the Navy. 
The expenditures last year at New Orleans amounted to only 
$20,000, and I saw the importance of going slow there and thus 
preserving the good-will of McEnery and Foster for the future. 
To all intents and purposes I can carry out the order .vhich 
you signed, although I have suspended it, without an Executive 
order, and this will relieve the Senators from the pressure 
which is being brought to bear upon them and soothe their 
feelings at the same time. It did not require an Executive 
order to bring about what Mr. Newberry wished to attain. 

1 S. D. McEnery and M. J. Foster, Senators from Louisiana. 



464 GEORGE von L. MEYER um-ms 

Both Admirals Capps and Pillsbury agree with me now that 
it would not be expedient to push the matter through under 
the order, but rather to bring about the results in a different 
way. 

I am tremendously interested in the work of the Depart- 
ment, and am satisfied I shall become very much absorbed in it. 

Please give my best regards to Mrs. Roosevelt and believe 
me, as always, 

^ Very sincerely yours, 

G. V. L. Meyer. 

To President Taft 

" Washington, October 5, IPOP. 
My deae Mb. President, — 

... I arrived here last Sunday, having spent two days 
in New York for the sole purpose of entertaining on the May- 
flower the foreign naval officers. Admiral Edward Seymour of 
the English Navy, Grosse Admiral von Koester of the German 
Navy, and Admiral Perez of the Chilean Navy, were all ex- 
tremely interesting men. The attentions shown them seemed 
to be appreciated. 

Cook arrived here on Sunday and seems to be getting 
ahead of Peary in every way as regards the first outburst of 
enthusiasm in the different cities over the discovery of the Pole. 

I spent Saturday night at Wickersham's, on Long Island, 
and he had Laffan ^ and his wife at dinner. Laffan and I had 
quite a discussion on the subject of jurisdiction over railroads 
and as to the question of Issuing bonds and stocks. He asked 
me to name a single railroad which had any water in it to-day, 
and I mentioned the Southern Railroad, which I remembered 
had 120 millions of common stock. His reply was: " You have 
selected the best one you could." He has not the slightest Idea 

1 Presumably William M. Lallan, editor of the New York 8un. 



1909-1913} SECRETARY OF THE NAVY 4G5 

that Cook went up to the North Pole. His idea is that he and 
his backer, Bradley the gambler, who runs the gambling hells 
at Palm Beach, put up a job on the public, and is going to 
make anywhere from a half million to a million of -dollars out 
of it in lectures and copyrights on Cook's book. It is unfor- 
tunate that Peary has shown so little tact since his return, as 
he has played right into Cook's hands. 

Mr. Carpenter took me over the executive offices to-day. 
They are going to be a wonderful improvement and really very 
attractive and well arranged. It seems almost incomprehen- 
sible how business was transacted heretofore in such small 
quarters. . . . 

If your digestive organs stand your present trip, I think 
you must be copper-fastened and guaranteed against any 
future troubles of that kind. 

I hope this will find you feeling well and that you will be 
able to get some enjoyment and rest during your trip. 
Faithfully yours, 

G. v. L. Meyer. 

To Theodore Roosevelt 

March 10, IQIO. 
My dear President, — 

What wonderful sport you have had, and how much you 
must have enjoyed it! I am so glad you had it, and I do not 
believe any one else ever had anything like it. How fortunate 
Kermit was, to have been able to go along with you, and what 
a recollection it will be for him ! I have often found that I 
have gotten as much pleasure out of my sport in after years, 
in recalling the many delightful incidents and experiences, as 
I did at the time. I have followed you with the greatest inter- 
est in Scribner^s, and am looking forward to the issuing of your 
book, which I understand will contain much more than has been 
published in the magazine. 



466 GEORGE von L. MEYER U^09-i9i3 

It may interest you to know that the Duchess of Aosta 
has gone way up the Congo River, with an English woman 
companion, and is to write five articles for Harper's Weekly. 
It sounds like an unhealthy trip. 

I am so glad for Mrs. Roosevelt's sake that she is about 
to meet you again. She, as women often do, has had the hard 
end of it, and must have passed through a good deal of anxiety 
at times. But it is all over now, and you and she will have 
such a delightful time in Rome, Paris, Berlin, and London. 
I think you will be surprised at the interest people have in 
you abroad, which I have always told you is tremendous. 

I am having a very stiff fight for the two battleships, 
which is pretty contemptible, considering that I have kept them 
in the programme and yet made a reduction of nearly ten mil- 
lions of dollars in the present appropriation bill, as compared 
with the appropriations for the previous year. In other words, 
I have really saved the price of one battleship, and there should 
not be any question about appropriating for two. But the 
old crowd are doing all they can to defeat it. President Taft 
is most anxious that the two battleships be appropriated for, 
and is appealing to certain members on the ground that this is 
the one Roosevelt policy, of all others, as to which there should 
not be the slightest question. 

I have had a big fight on this winter with the Committee 
over reorganization. When I went into the Navy Department 
I was very much impressed with your letters to Congress of 
January 27 and February 27, 1909, in which you called atten- 
tion to the fact that the Department was not organized so as 
to bring about the best results, and that it failed to coordinate 
the work of bureaus to make the Department serve the one pur- 
pose for which it was created, that is, the development and 
handling of a first-class fighting fleet ; in other words, the 
highest military efficiency. With that in view, I went to work 



m9-i9m SECRETARY OF THE NAVY 467 

to see what could be done. I saw that my predecessors had 
made recommendations, but that Congress had never taken any 
action. I studied the reports for the past twenty years, and 
finally decided to do just the opposite from what Newberry 
stated before the Committee he had done — worked out a plan 
without consulting any one. Therefore, I got together some 
of the best minds in the Navy and referred to them all the 
documents and reports which I had collected together, including 
the able one which was made by the Commission of which 
Moody was the head during the last two months of your admin- 
istration. The Board to which I put up these problems for 
enlightenment was known as the Swift Board, and was com- 
posed of: — 

Rear Admiral Wm. Swift, Senior Member, 
Captain C. E. Vreeland, Member, 

« S. A. Staunton, " 

" F. F. Fletcher, 

Commander Roy C. Smith, " 

G. W. Logan 
Lieutenant Commander L. H. Chandler, Member, 
Commander J. M. Foyer, Recorder. 

I myself, without waiting for Congress, and after assur- 
ing myself through the Department of Justice that I was 
acting within the statutes, put into force a digested plan of 
reorganization, on the first day of December, 1909, which car- 
ried out practically the principles of the Moody-Day ton- 
Mahan Board. 

In your letter of February 27, 1909, you state that, to 
supplement and finish the work of the Moody Commission, 
another commission must eventually be designated, to take up 
the proposed plan and complete it as to details, and that no 
plan can be satisfactory if there is deviation from the essen- 



468 GEORGE von L. MEYER um-vjis 

tial military principles specified in this report. This I fully 
recognized. 

Under the present plan of reorganization the work of 
the bureaus continues as heretofore, but they have been 
grouped into four logical divisions — Military Operations of 
the Fleet; Personnel; Material; and Inspection (ashore and 
afloat). In addition to the bureau chiefs, whose duties have 
not been changed, there is for each of these divisions an aid, 
or counsel, as follows : Rear Admiral Wainwright, for Military 
Operations of the Fleet ; Rear Admiral Potter, for Personnel ; 
Rear Admiral Swift (who is to be succeeded on March 17 by 
Captain Fletcher) for Material; and Captain Ward, for In- 
spection. These four, when called upon by me, act as a mili- 
tary council, and are held responsible individually for advice 
with regard to their divisions. This organization ensures for 
the future a continuity of policy, with knowledge and experi- 
ence in a digested form, for the Secretary of the Navy. In 
other words, " an advisor}'^ board, equipped not merely with 
advice but with reasons." It also enables the Secretary to 
obtain a clear understanding and a firm grasp of leading mili- 
tary considerations through public responsible advisers, who 
can be changed in any instance if they are not making good. 

In the navy yard organization I retained all the con- 
solidations of shops which Newberry brought about, but found 
that it was impracticable and costly to have a constructor as 
manager of the entire yard and assistant constructors at the 
head of the various departments of which they had not expert 
knowledge, thus making the Steam Engineers, Ordnance men, 
and Civil Engineers, mere inspectors. I have changed the 
manufacturing department into two divisions, instead of one; 
that is, a hull division and a machinery division, with a con- 
structor as the expert head of the hull division, and a steam 
engineer as the expert head of the machinery division. In 



1909-191S] SECRETARY OF THE NAVY 469 

doing this I have followed what has been shown to bring about 
the best results in the English and German navies, and in our 
own successful private ship-yards, such as the Newport News 
Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company, the New York Ship- 
building Company, and Cramps. 

I was thankful that I had put all this in force December 1, 
1909, because as soon as Congress assembled I found opposi- 
tion and an endeavour to overthrow what I had done. I found 
that the movement was led by Hale, Foss,^ Navy Constructor 
Capps, Paymaster-General Rogers, Admiral Goodrich, and 
supported quietly by Newberry. At one time it looked as 
though everything would be upset, but I finally won over the 
committee to leave everything in operation until Congress con- 
venes again, so that they may be able to judge by actual re- 
sults. Besides, " Possession is nine points of the law," and I 
had the reorganization in force and they had nothing to sub- 
stitute for it, and would have done nothing if I had gone to 
them in the beginning and asked for authority. Foss was put 
out that he had not been consulted, and so was Hale. They 
preferred to have the constructors in control, as it keeps down 
the line and the military side of the navy yards. 

I am sending you my hearing of February 17, before the 
Committee, and am going to ask you, as a great favour, to 
read pages 679 to 705, inclusive, in which I review the 
situation. 

I should not have gone into this matter so fully in this 
letter, but I know that there is nothing which interests you 
more than the Navy, and I wanted you to know just what had 
.been done, and what is being done, in order that you might 
be posted and get the information from me first-hand. The 
plan has the support of the entire line; I know of but two 
exceptions. . . . 

1 George Edmund Foss, of Illinois, Chairman of the House Committee 
on Naval Aflfairs. 



470 GEORGE von L. MEYER uzod-iv,i3 

I am tremendously interested in the work and have never 
put as much time into anything as I have done in the last year 
in the Navy. It is gratifying to know that I have the loyal 
support of the officers, and that the President is approving 
absolutely every move. 

To show you how closely Japan follows everything: I put 
into force at the Boston yard, July 1, a system of cost- 
accounting, which was absolutely lacking in the Navy, and 
without which it is impossible to know what we are accomplish- 
ing in the way of economy, or what the work is costing us. 
Japan has already asked to be permitted to send a naval officer 
over to study the system. I have also received word from a 
mutual friend that Sir Arthur Wilson, who studied the re- 
organization, spoke in the highest terms of it. It has also' 
recently been endorsed by the National Marine Engineers' 
Association, representing 11,500 members, and by ex-Con- 
structor Nixon. I mention this only to show that unprejudiced 
experts are approving the reorganization plan. 

In a poll of the House just made, we find that we lack 
25 votes for the two battleships, which are to be of 26,000 — 
27,000 tons, with ten 14-inch guns. However, the President 
is to send for certain members and we hope to pull a sufficient 
number of members over to get the appropriation through. 

The postal savings bank bill passed the Senate on the 
3d instant. 

I hope this will find you and Kermit perfectly well, and 
with my love to dear Mrs. Roosevelt, in which my wife joins 
me, believe me, always, 

Faithfully yours, 

G. V. L. Meyer. 

In the autumn of 1910 Meyer paid an important 
visit of naval inspection to the Atlantic and Pacific 



1909-1913] SECRETARY OF THE NAVY 471 

coasts, and to Cuba. It is unnecessary to accompany 
him from point to point, but the following letters to 
Mrs. Meyer and President Taft will serve to suggest 
the nature of the undertaking. 



To Mrs. Meyer 

' Seattle, Wash., October 11, 1910. 

We arrived here Sunday night, having left Livingston at 
2.30 Saturday afternoon. We went through the Yakima dis- 
trict, Washington, where they have estabHshed great apple 
orchards, and I was very much interested in looking at them 
from the car window. When we reached North Yakima they 
were selling enormous, perfect, yellow apples at five cents 
apiece. They have not the flavour, however, of an eastern 
apple. 

We were met at the station in Seattle by Senator Piles 
and the President of the Chamber of Commerce ; but they were 
considerate enough to leave us to ourselves at the hotel, giving 
us an opportunity to have a bath, supper, and retire. The 
next day, Monday, I spent at the Bremerton Navy Yard. It 
is a run of an hour and a half from Seattle in the Navy tug. 

I am surprised to find it really colder here than in Boston 
at this time of the year, due to the dampness in the air. How- 
ever, I have still stuck to my open mesh, and up to the present 
have avoided a cold. Poor Andrews ^ has suffered from one a 
good deal of the time, but is much better. 

I was met at the Bremerton Navy Yard by the marines 
drawn up on the dock and the officers in their uniforms, and 
escorted formally to the Commandant's office, where they were 
presented. 

1 Captain (now Rear- Admiral ) Pliilip Andrews, Secretary Meyer's 
personal Aid. 



472 GEORGE yOxV L. MEYER vm9-iois 

After a thorough inspection of tlie work there, I find it 
was very important that I got out here to make changes. 

We lunched at the Commandant's house, which is on a 
high bluff overlooking Puget Sound, and beautifully located, 
returning to Seattle at the end of the afternoon. In the eve- 
ning they gave me a dinner at the Club here, at which were 
present prominent gentlemen of Seattle, and of course there 
was the usual speech-making. I find that on naval matters 
now I do not mind whether they call on me or not, as I am 
getting to be familiar with the subject. 

They are very much aroused on the Pacific coast as to 
their safety from Japanese attack; in fact, they are in about 
the same frame of mind that our people were in when they 
dreaded the onslaughts of the Spanish cruisers at the beginning 
of the Spanish-American war. 

To-day I am receiving delegations and inspecting ship- 
ping plants, and this afternoon the proposed torpedo station. 
I hope to get a quiet evening. 

To-morrow at eleven o'clock we start for San Francisco 
and the Navy Yard at the Golden Gate, known as Mare 
Island. 

I got 3'our telegram this morning, acknowledging mine, 
and telling me that Bey was with you, and the Beaches also. 
How pleased Bey must be to get on the first crew ! I hope 
he will be able to stay there and I think he will, barring acci- 
dents. 

I found letters here from you, Julia, Alys, and Bey. The 
mail takes about as long to reach here as it takes to London, 
but the telegraph, of course, is much quicker than the 
cable. 

The people are certainly very hospitable out here and are 
very much pleased that I have taken the trouble to visit the 
Pacific slope myself, to learn from my own observations the 



im-iom SECRETARY OF THE NAVY 473 

requirements and needs of the country. I think it may help 
in legislation this winter. 



To President Taft 

' En route to New Orleans, 
" October 22, I9IO. 

My dear Mr. President, — 

Since writing you from St. Paul I have visited Seattle, 
Bremerton Navy Yard, San Francisco, the Mare Island Navy 
Yard, Goat Island (training station). Angel Island (quaran- 
tine station), the coaling station at Tiburon, Cal,, (on a 
peninsula). Hunter's Point (two drydocks belonging to the 
Union Iron Works), Los Angeles, San Pedro (the harbour of 
Los Angeles), and San Diego, where there is a coaling station 
which has never been used and probably never will be, and 
which has cost the Government $200,000. 

Spaulding, of San Diego, who won out in the primaries 
for the senatorship, was in the East, so I did not see him; 
but there is a movement on foot among a number of Republican 
insurgents to overlook the decision of the primaries and de- 
feat Spaulding for senator. Wright, the State senator, 
thought it would not succeed, but there is no question that the 
effort is being made. Senator Wright said the sentiment in 
the south of California for you is very strong, and added that 
his judgment was that by a year from now it will have spread 
all over the state. 

In San Francisco I attended a banquet that was given 
for me by the Chamber of Commerce, at which Governor 
Gillett, Senator Perkins, the Congressmen, and the Mayor of 
the city were present. Gillett is endeavouring to get together 
the Governors of the States on the Pacific slope to inaugurate 
a movement demanding that the battleship fleet be kept on 
the Pacific coast. In my address to the Chamber of Commerce 



474- GEORGE VON L. MEYER W09-im 

I endeavoured to show that, in order to have a battle fleet on 
the Pacific, the coast must be in a position to maintain it, and 
that there were no docks belonging to the Government at the 
present time which would accommodate all the battleships now 
in commission, due either to a lack of water in the channel or 
the size of the dock. I informed them [that] by 1912 the 
large dock would be completed at Puget Sound, but that at the 
present time there is only 20 feet of water at low tide in front 
of the dock at Mare Island, although the dock itself is large 
enough to receive any battleship ; that in the channel over 
the Pinola Shoals the depth at low tide is not more than 22 
feet, and that it would require an expenditure of $500,000 by 
the War Department to make that a channel 30 feet deep at 
low tide and 500 feet wide; also, that one million dollars would 
be necessary for dredging, building dikes to overcome the silt 
that filters in the channels, and to make sufficient depth for the 
berthing of the battleships at the Navy Yard pier. The Mare 
Island Navy Yard has 900 acres of high land and 1,800 acres 
of marsh. There are very complete shops there and two dry 
docks, the large one having just been completed a few months 
ago. Fourteen million dollars have been expended in establish- 
ing that station. A Board of Engineers, made up of Army and 
Navy officers, has recommended an expenditure of one million 
dollars in order to give a depth of 30 feet of water at Mare 
Island. If that expenditure will bring about the necessary 
results, it is well worth it, provided the War Department will 
at the same time complete the channel over the Pinola Shoals. 
There is an alternative proposition which appeals to me 
very much, provided it can be satisfactorily brought about: 
the Government owns an island known as Goat Island, directly 
in the harbour of San Francisco, and opposite the terminals 
of the Southern Pacific, Sante Fe, and a third (electrically 
equipped) railroad. It is very desirable as a terminal, in that 



1909-1913} SECRETARY OF THE NAVY 475 

it would reduce the distance from San Francisco one-half and 
make the ferry about the same as it is from New York to 
Jersey City. Goat Island is now used by us as a training sta- 
tion for blue jackets and a small number of marines, which 
could be transferred advantageously to the Mare Island Navy 
Yard. I have approached the Southern Pacific and the 
Atchison Railroad officials, to know if they desired to make a 
tentative offer for the island, which, of course, would be sub- 
ject to your approval and the action of the Congress. I 
believe that sufficient money could be obtained for Goat Island 
to enable us to buy Hunter's Point, where there are already 
two well-equipped dry-docks — one large enough to dock any 
battleship that we have in commission or in contemplation. 
There is abundant water there, and it will never require any 
dredging. It is also quite accessible to San Francisco, while 
Mare Island is thirty miles from the city. If a satisfactory 
price should be offered for Goat Island, the purchase of 
Hunter's Point would make unnecessary the million-dollar ex- 
penditure for dredging and the building of dikes, etc., at Mare 
Island, nor would it be necessary for the War Department to 
dredge Pinola Shoals, at an expense of .$500,000, because the 
plan then would be to maintain Mare Island only for the dock- 
ing of smaller cruisers, torpedo destroyers, as a station for 
naval supplies for the Pacific and Asiatic stations, as a training 
station for blue jackets and marines, and as a manufacturing 
plant, where the shops are already equipped for the require- 
ments of the fleet. Hunter's Point would be merely a docking 
station, with a kitchen repair-shop. 

At Los Angeles I made the same arguments against a fleet 
being on the Pacific at the present time as I did at San Fran- 
cisco, adding that there was no probability of the battle fleet 
coming to the Pacific coast until the Canal is completed. The 
argument seems to have been well received, and many of the 



476 GEORGE VON L. MEYER um-ms 

San Francisco citizens told me that I had smashed Governor 
Gillett's scheme by making a plain statement of conditions as 
they existed in the harbours and Navy Yards on the Pacific 
coast. 

At Puget Sound there is plenty of water, and by 1912 it 
will be able to accommodate the fleet with two docks. The 
trouble has been that money has been expended in different 
localities and locations, probably due in many instances to 
political influence, which time has shown was not well advised 
or necessary. For instance, some miles from Bremerton Navy 
Yard a location has been acquired and a magazine station estab- 
lished. It is impossible for any ship to get to it, and the ammu- 
nition must be moved by barges. It is, however, an ideal picnic 
ground ! Also, a torpedo station has been located on another 
island, which might have been placed to advantage within the 
Bremerton navy yard. 

San Francisco, if we acquire Hunter's Point, would be in 
an equally good condition, but otherwise it would take from two 
or three years before sufficient dredging coidd be accomplished, 
with the dikes required to overcome the silt, to put Mare Island 
in a condition necessary for the maintenance of the fleet. 

Los Angeles and San Diego also wanted naval stations, 
but I explained that the policy of the future would be to con- 
centrate in two Navy Yards all the requirements of the Pacific 
coast, and bringing those stations up to the highest perfection, 
keeping the fleet at sea and having it visit the important ports 
of the Pacific during maneuvres. 

San Diego has a natural harbour but requires a bar to be 
dredged three feet more before it will be accessible to the battle 
fleet. Los Angeles has a harbour made by hand, as it were, 
with a long breakwater on which the Government has expended 
three millions of dollars. It will be useful as a harbour of 
refuge for the torpedo fleet, cruisers, and a Hmited number of 



i909-i9m SECRETARY OF THE NAVY 477 

battleships. There are great expectations of commerce, and 
even immigration from Mediterranean ports, when the Canal 
is completed ; in fact, the Canal may be the means of solving the 
labour problems in California, as the climate is such that it will 
undoubtedly attract Italians to the Pacific coast, which re- 
sembles their own climate, rather than the Argentine. At 
present the cost of bringing them across the continent by rail 
is too great. 

I am now on my way to New Orleans, Pensacola, and Key 
West, in order to see the Navy Yards there. The first two 
should be abolished, but I shall be prepared to report more in 
detail after inspecting them. From Key West I am to go over 
to Havana and from there to Guantanamo, in order to learn 
the possibilities of that harbour, which is already used as the 
winter base of the fleet and will increase in importance as a 
base when the Canal is opened. I feel that an effort should be 
made to put that station on a basis commensurate with its 
future strategic importance. I shall return in time to vote. 

Please present my best regards to Mrs. Taft, and believe 
me, always, 

' Faithfully yours, 

George v. L. Meyer. 

To Mrs. Meyer 

' On board U.S.S. Dolphin 

en route Miami^ Fla., from Cuba 
November 3, 1910. 

We sailed from Miami on the 29th of October, headed 

for Guantanamo, Cuba. However, we ran into such rough 

weather that we changed our course and headed for Key West, 

as the winds were more favourable and the ship behaving badly. 

I was feeling mean as dirt, though this passed off not long 

after we changed our course. It was our original plan to 



478 GEORGE von L. MEYER U909-ms 

inspect Key West station before Guantanamo. We arrived at 
Key West at night, and at six the next morning we were up 
and dressed, landing upon the coral deposits wlach now form 
the naval station at Key West. There I found old Commodore 
Beehler in charge. You may remember he was my naval at- 
tache when I was at Rome, and he also served me during m}^ 
first visit to Kiel, when I first met the Emperor there. By half- 
past eight we had completed the inspection, and at nine we 
sailed for Havana. It was beautiful overhead but the roughest 
sea that I ever encountered on so small a boat. I had my chair 
lashed to the mast, and there I stayed for seven hours, reading 
part of the time and watching the angles that we were taking. 
We dipped several times to the extent of 33 degrees, which 
beats the record for the Dolphin's rolling. Those guns that 
are on the poop deck I saw several times dip their noses into the 
sea, and once it nearly carried away one of the boats, as she 
was lifted by the water from her davits. Strange to say, I 
felt perfectly well, but it was very fatiguing balancing one's 
self. It was impossible to serve any meals, or to have anything 
on the table, even with racks. Fortunately, it was only a seven 
hours' run and we entered Havana at 3.45 in the afternoon. It 
was a wonderful entrance, with the old forts and the masts of 
the Maine sticking out of the water, the surf beating on the 
Esplanade, the bright sun and the quaint buildings, which gave 
it such a foreign aspect that it was impossible to believe one's 
self in the western hemisphere. We were met immediately by 
the Secretary of their Marine, who is called a Lieutenant 
Colonel (their navy consists of one small gunboat and two tugs), 
who came on board, as well as the Collector of the Port and the 
Secretary to the President. We saluted the fort as we passed, 
and they returned the salute to me of nineteen guns. We 
landed where quite a number of people had assembled, and 
there vras the usual amount of photographing by the would-be 



im-wm SECRETARY OF THE NAVY 479 

Cuban-American press men. We were then taken in automo- 
biles to the Hotel Plaza, where clean rooms were furnished us 
and a nice bath. 

It is a singular fact that none of the windows have 
glasses in them, merely blinds and shutters, so that if there is 
a storm it is necessary to close the shutters and light the electric 
light. The rooms are very high-studded, — twice as high as 
anything in America, — so there is sufficient air. 

That night we dined at a hotel called Miramar, in the 
courtyard of which were balconies and scenes which reminded 
one of pictures of Spain, and suggested, with the music, 
the opera of Carmen. It was all weird and interesting. The 
hotel is situated at the corner of the Esplanade and the Prado, 
and is the only hotel with a good chef. 

The reporters and the people in Cuba were rather amusing 
in one respect: the day after our arrival was election day and 
they got it into their heads that I had come down to give moral 
effect to the Cubans ; to show that the American navy could 
appear at any moment, and to remind them that they were to 
do their duty or we would step in. 

The next morning I called formally on the President by 
appointment, accompanied by Minister Jackson ^ and my aid, 
and the Military Attache, Colonel Barber, where we were re- 
ceived in the palace that Governor Taft lived in, and Bob 
Bacon. Later we lunched at an inn which might have been in 
Italy or Spain, where they had a very good chef, to which 
Captain Kelley, who is the New York Herald representative 
and a former naval officer, ciceroned us. We brought him 
with us from Miami as Bennett's personal representative, of 
the New York Herald, to report the inspection at Guantanamo. 
We also have Weightman, of the New York Sun, and an Asso- 
ciated Press representative met us at Guantanamo. 

1 John Brinckerhoff Jackson, of New Jersey. 



480 GEORGE yon L. MEYER U909-i9i3 

That niglit we dined with Minister Jackson, at the lega- 
tion. He has a charming house, really a very large villa, with 
courtyard, closed staircase, and ante-chamber. After dinner, 
we took the train at ten o'clock for Santiago, having ordered 
the Dolphin around to meet us there. The journey to Santiago 
is of twenty-four hours and gave us a splendid idea of the 
fertility of the soil and of the vast sugar-cane fields. Every- 
thing looks prosperous and the elections went off quietly. 

As we reached Santiago (10 p.m.) we learned from the 
Consul at the station that the Dolphin had not arrived, so we 
were taken to the Venus Hotel, which is on the ancient square 
adjoining the Governor's palace, where the American flag was 
first raised after the Cuban war, when peace had been declared. 
On the other side of the square is the old cathedral. Santiago 
is supposed to be the most ancient town in the western hemi- 
sphere. The hotel at which we passed the night was formerly 
the Club, and it is said that it was here that Admiral Cervera 
and his officers gambled for high stakes, and probably in 
desperation, the night before they sailed out from Santiago. 
The rooms at the hotel were peculiar, to say the least. Parti- 
tions between the rooms went up about ten feet and then 
stopped; the doors were partially screened, were made of glass 
and could be flung open or almost looked over. The floors were 
of tiles and the beds not the most comfortable. I got little 

sleep, as I could hear snoring in the next room and people 

talking throughout the night, and was twice awakened by wire- 
less messages from the Dolphin. Still, it was a wonderful expe- 
rience, and I got up with the sun and looked out upon the weird 
and attractive scene from my window. 

The Dolphin had arrived outside of the harbour at eleven 
o'clock in the night. It was the entrance to this harbour which 
Hobson tried to block, and it is rather difficult to navigate at 
night. We found our launch at the custom-house pier at half- 



1909-1913] SECRETARY OF THE NAVY 481 

past seven a.m. and joined the Dolphin again at eight. Wie then 
weighed anchor and started out of this wonderful land-locked 
harbour, with mountains on all sides, like the volcanic lake of 
Nemi, only on a larger scale. Suddenly we came upon the cork- 
screw exit, with the deserted forts, and as we passed over the 
spot where the Merrimac was sunk, our compass veered a whole 
point. 

The sail to Guantanamo, which we entered at eleven o'clock 
in the morning, is about forty miles. Here is another extraordi- 
nary harbour, only not so picturesque as Santiago, but well 
adapted for the entire battle fleet to anchor within its sheltered 
confines, with great natural advantages and greater possibilities 
as a future naval base for the defense of the Panama Canal. 
While at Guantanamo I received your cable from Funchal, tell- 
ing me of your safe arrival, but I regretted to hear that you 
had had a stormy passage. Every one tells me that Madeira is 
charming, and I have also heard like accounts of Teneriffe. I 
cabled you at once. 

At Guantanamo we discontinued our inspection at noon 
to take lunch, and then continued it in the afternoon, so as to 
sail at five; and we are now skirting the Island of Cuba, which 
is 500 miles, and making for Miami again, where I hope to catch 
the express and arrive in Washington on Sunday morning, the 
Gth. At this moment, noon, we are 340 miles from Miami, 840 
from Charleston, and 1400 from Washington. Expect to take 
the train from Miami to-morrow, reach Washington Sun- 
day A.M. 

In August and September of 1911 Meyer visited 
England " primarily for the purpose " — as his Annual 
Report for that year expressed it — " of examining 
into the systems of organization and the methods em- 
ployed in the English dock yards and in leading ship- 



482 GEORGE von L. MEYER um-im 

building establishments in Great Britain." The Report 
sets forth the results of his observations in some detail, 
and well illustrates Meyer's readiness to learn at the 
most fruitful sources of information. Again the more 
personal aspects of the experience are found in letters 
to President Taft and Mrs. Meyer. 

To President Taft 

[London], August 14, IQll. 
Dear Mr. President, — 

I feel as though I had got out of the frying-pan into the 
fire. In other words, the heat here is as great as in America. 
All the country is completely burnt up, and the green sward of 
England has disappeared. 

On the steamer with me I found ex-Governor Herrick. 
. . . Brown, President of the New York Central, was on 
board also. . . . He had just come from the West, — Iowa 
and other insurgent states, — and he assured me that there 
was a very large change in the sentiment, and that you were 
stronger with the people and growing so every day. That 
seemed also to be the opinion of some business men residing in 
New York State who were on board. 

I find that in Germany the heads of the railroads meet 
the head of the Army and the head of the Navy twice a year, in 
order to consider the question of transportation of troops as 
well as supplies, in case of an emergency. This lias never been 
done in our country. I broached the subject to Brown, and 
asked him if he felt that the representatives of the great trans- 
portation lines in America — namely, the Hill, Harriman, Penn- 
sylvania, New York Central and Atchison systems — would be 
willing to meet quietly the head of the Army and the head of 
the Navy, and take up the matter of transportation and the 
requirements in the way of the Government should any emer- 



1909-1913] SECRETARY OF THE NAVY 483 

gency ever arise, the information to be absolutely confidential 
and filed away should the occasion ever occur. If there had 
been annual meetings of that character previous to the Spanish- 
American war, there would not have been that congestion which 
showed the necessity for preparations and plans well conceived. 
Brown is to consider our talk absolutely confidential, and I 
shall do nothing further until my return, when I shall take it 
up with you and the Secretary of War. 

Mr. Reid was most kind in giving me a dinner the day 
after my arrival and putting me in touch with the Government 
and the Admiralty in a way which has been most advantageous 
to me. They have received me with the most cordial and frank 
manner and have put everything at my disposal for study in 
the way of administration and shop management. I have 
already had several consultations with the different Sea Lords, 
and have visited Chatham Navy Yard, spending the entire day 
there. 

I am much impressed with the manner in which they are 
handling their deserters. They have camps of detention instead 
of prisons. They have no prison guards and nothing to humil- 
iate the offender beyond strict training and reduced rations. I 
am strongly of the opinion that we should make an entire change 
in our system of punishment for those who desert, as in many 
instances it is done in great ignorance on the part of the blue- 
jacket. 

I am to inspect some of the great private shipyards, and 
later shall go to the Portsmouth Yard. 

I am much concerned to think that you are being detained 
in Washington during all this heated spell and that Congress 
is still in session. I know how unlimited your patience is; may 
your strength be fully equal to the occasion ! 

With sincere regards, 

' Respectfully yours, 

George v. L. Meyer. 



484 GEORGE von L. MEYER U^09-ms 

To Mrs. Meyer 

Wrest Park, Ampthill, Bedfordshire, 
Sunday, August 13, 191 1- 

It is my sixth day in England, but it seems longer, I have 
been doing so much. . . . Reached Liverpool at 8 o'clock 
A.M. and took the train a^ 9, reaching London at 1 o'clock, in 
time for lunch. 

We were met at the station by Elliot Bacon and the Naval 
Attache, and taken in autos to Dorchester House, where we 
had a formal lunch with the Ambassador and Mrs. Reid. 

After lunch I picked up Whitney [Warren] at Ritz, saw 
Mrs. Vanderbilt (Grace), who told me I should have come a 
week earlier and accepted her invitation to stay on the North 
Star and have met the King and Queen of England, and King 
of Spain, and several other celebrities. It makes a much better 
impression at home for me to go to the Admiralty as soon as 
I get here, than to spend a week on arrival at Cowes flitting 
about — bowing from the waist ! 

Tuesday afternoon Whit and I called on Mr. Morgan at 
Princess Gate, found him in, and he personally conducted us 
and showed his entire collection. It is marvellously fine. He 
wants to bring it to U. S. Later he insisted upon our going to 
Dover House, his father's farm in the outskirts of London, 250 
acres, and dining there. We found Mr. and Mrs. Marcoe. 

Wednesday morning I spent at the Admiralty calling on 
the First Lord, which corresponds to the Secretary of the Navy. 
He sent for the diflPerent Sea Lords to meet me, and they gave 
me a very cordial reception and showed a willingness to let me 
see whatever I wanted. In the afternoon went to the House of 
Lords, sat in the Diplomatic Gallery with BenckendorfF, Rus- 
sian Ambassador, Count Wrangel, and the Italian Ambassador, 
Imporiali. The feeling has been very intense over the House of 
Lords bill. 



1909-1913] SECRETARY OF THE NAVY 485 

That night Reid gave his big dinner — all men. I had 
Lord Kitchener on my right and the First Lord of the 
Admiralty on my left — Sydney Buxton, P.M.G., Winston 
Churchill, Sir Edward Seymour, Lord Paget, Harcourt, 
etc., etc. Kitchener was very interesting and asked me to come 
and visit him some time while he was head [.f^] of Egypt at 
Cairo. When the cigars were brought, Reid asked me to change 
seats with him, and that put me between Sir Edward Grey 
and Lord Bristol. Grey, Minister of Foreign Affairs, is one of 
the interesting men of England. 

It was a memorable occasion and I had interesting con- 
versations with many present. McKenna said to me, " You know 
you have a big reputation in this country " — rather a nice 
bouquet, even if it was exaggerated. 

Thursday, Whitney and I had an ideal day together ; 
automobiled to Cambridge and spent the day in the University, 
and got back in time for dinner. 

The Ambassador and I went to the House of Lords, where 
the excitement was intense ; heard Rosebery, Curzon, Halsbury, 
and Lansdowne speak; then saw the division, which will be 
historical and has resulted in the disposition of the House of 
Lords and a one-chamber government.^ 

Friday I spent the day at the great Chatham Navy Yard, 
later arriving at Cliveden at 7 p.m. Nancy '^ is in the same won- 
derful spirits. . . . Present Crown Prince of Roumania, 
Lord Winterton, Mrs. Drew (Gladstone's daughter). . . . 
Winterton very agreeable, sense of humour, and wide awake. 
Nancy very amusing. . . . Astor is now an M.P. I should 
have liked to stay on, the Connaughts were coming, but I had 
promised the Reids. . . . The heat has been intense — every 

1 The division in the House of Lords on the Parliament Bill occurred 
August 10. 

2 Mrs. Waldorf Astor. 



486 GEORGE von L. MEYER im9-wis 

day at Cliveden we dined on the terrace ; have every door and 
window closed. 

The Archbishop of Canterbury and I have struck up a 
friendship! 

To Mrs. Meyer 

' Sunday, August 28, 1 911. 

MiLLDEN Lodge, Edzell, Forfarshire. 

Here I am, after four days of delightful weather and fine 
shooting, and now I am trying to get away to Glasgow, but I 
am afraid that I am tied up by the great strike. It looks as 
though no trains would be allowed to move. The government 
seems helpless. . . . 

Last Monday Sydney Buxton, a member of the Cabinet, 
gave me a dinner on House of Commons Terrace : the First 
Lord of the Admiralty, Sir Gilbert Parker, Mr. Birrell, Secre- 
tary for Ireland, Loreburn, Harcourt, T. P. O'Connor, and 
several members of Parliament. It was most interesting. 

Tuesday night I left for Scotland, as the heat had been 
intense ever since I got to England. Mrs. Vanderbilt has asked 
me to join them on the yacht at Trouville, and we were to dine 
one night with Princess Daisy Pless and the next with Duchess 
of Marlborough ; but I decided shooting on the moors would 
be the best. 

The Somssichs asked me to stay with them in Paris, but 
one is more independent in a hotel; and Princess May 
Fiirstenberg has asked me to visit them in Austria near 
Salzburg, but I do not see how I can arrange to spare the 
time. 

The Rcids have shown me unbounded hospitality, put the 
house, automobile and everything at my disposal. Mrs. Jones 
and her daughter Trixey, Dr. Kinnicutt, Bertie Hay, Victor 
Sorchon and Willie Hoffman are all here. 



im-i9m SECRETARY OF THE NAVY 487 

To the political perplexities which in March of 
1912 began to assail the friends of Theodore Roosevelt 
who were also friends of President Taft — and most 
of all the members of the Taft administration — 
Meyer was by no means immune. It was a period 
of much difficulty for any one holding the personal 
relations in which Meyer stood toward the two con- 
spicuous figures of the Republican party. Had he not 
so completely retained the friendship of Roosevelt, 
even to the point which made him one of the chief 
advocates of Roosevelt's nomination by the Repub- 
licans in 1916, his attitude toward the occurrences of 
1912 would be a painful topic of discussion. As it is, 
some idea of his position at the time should be given. 
It was a position of genuine distress. His private let- 
ters show how strongly he felt that Colonel Roosevelt 
would not have announced his candidacy for the presi- 
dential nomination had he consulted his best friends. 
The correspondence shows also that before this an- 
nouncement was made Meyer was virtually certain that 
nothing of the sort would occur. A fellow-member of 
Mr. Taft's cabinet reports that about two weeks be- 
fore the unexpected announcement Meyer went to 
Roosevelt and expressed his readiness to resign from 
the Cabinet and to support him if he decided to 
run for the presidency. Assured that this was not 
to be, he naturally determined to remain where he 
was, and throughout the campaign gave his complete 
and loyal support to the candidacy of President 
Taft. 

A letter to President Taft in the campaign sum- 



488 GEORGE VON L. MEYER U909-ms 

mer of 1912 will speak for Meyer's interest in the 
impending election. 

To President Taft 

Hamilton, Massachusetts, 
August 6, 1912. 
My dear Mr. President, — 

Thank you for your letter of recent date. I have read 
your speech of acceptance with great interest. I wish there 
was some way that we could compel every individual voter in 
the country to read every word of it. If that could be accom- 
plished, there would be no doubt in my mind as to the result 
of the November election. It should be the principal campaign 
document from now on. In addition to that, I wish a digest 
might be made by the National Committee of the principal 
points and the same distributed as leaflets throughout the coun- 
try, with the following heading from Root's speech with his 
name added : " Your title to the nomination is as clear and unim- 
peachable as the title of any candidate of any party since 
political conventions began." The constant assertion by the 
Insurgents that your nomination was stolen is having some 
effect among voters who do not follow politics carefully — for 
instance, the Boston Journal, owned by Munsey, has quite a 
circulation in Vermont and northern New England and has, I 
learn, prejudiced a number of voters. I have talked with 
Easterbrook of New Hampshire about arranging to have 
Williams counteract that in Vermont before the State election. 

I asked Captain Palmer ^ to go and see you about arrang- 
ing to have you attend the mobilization of the fleet at New 
York about the middle of October. There will be thirty battle- 
ships there instead of twenty-five last year and a great demon- 

1 Captain (now Rear- Admiral ) Leigh C. Palmer, Secretary Meyer's 
personal Aid at the time. 



i909-i9m SECRETARY OF THE NAVY 489 

stration; also that I was very desirous to have you attend the 
launching of the battleship New York in the Brooklyn Navy 
Yard at the same time. It will please the workmen and have a 
very good effect in Brooklyn before election. Palmer has not 
yet reported to me, so I am not sure that he found you. 

I was sorry to hear of the death of Mrs. Taft's father. 
Please express to her my sympathy in her affliction. 

Believe me, 

' Faithfully yours, 

George v. L. Meyer. 

In a vein not hitherto touched, a letter written 
after the national election of 1912 had resulted in 
disaster to the Republican party reveals something of 
the cheerful spirit in which Meyer was carrying on the 
work of the Department. 



To Mrs. C. A. Goss 

November 19, 1912. 
My dear Madam, — 

In compliance with your request of the 21st instant for 
an autograph letter for the Bazaar of the First Methodist Epis- 
copal Church of Omaha, I venture to cite the fact that the 
wisest of men and the greatest of administrators. King Solomon, 
maintained a Navy nearly three thousand years ago, as shown 
in 1 Kings, x, 22-23 : — 

" For the king had at sea a navy. . . . 

" So King Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth for 
riches and for wisdom." 

Wishing success for your enterprise, believe me, 
Very truly yours, 

G. V. L. Meyer. 



490 GEORGE von L. MEYER ii909-i9is 

Another note, to his successor in office, may be 
taken to remind one that the good sportsman's instinct 
did not desert Meyer as he was about to quit the work 
he had so greatly enjoyed. 

To Hon. Josephus Daniels 

February 27, 191S. 
Deae Mr. Daniels, — 

Allow me to congratulate you on the prospect of becoming 
Secretary of the Navy. 

It would give me great pleasure to extend to you the 
courtesy of the Department and to enable you, before the 
fourth of March, to familiarize yourself with such duties of the 
office as you desire. I should also like to have the opportunity 
of presenting to you the various Aids and Bureau Chiefs. 

It has been my privilege to serve as Secretary of the Navy 
for four years, and I have never worked with men who have such 
unselfish and patriotic motives as the officers of the United 
States Navy. 

Yours truly, 

G. V. L. Meyee. 

There are no further words of Meyer's own that 
need to be added to this account of his work in the 
Nayy Department. A few words from others will 
complete the story. A widespread admiration of what 
he had done found many expressions — none more 
gratifying, it may well be imagined, than a portion 
of a letter from a retired rear-admiral, writing in 
the last year of Meyer's administration : " Permit me 
to take the hberty to add that, in my opinion, you are, 
in every respect, the most efficient Secretary of the 



1909-1913] SECRETARY OF THE NAVY 491 

Navy who has held the office during my service therein, 
covering more than 49 years. I know that, in saying 
this, I am voicing the opinion of most of the older 
officers, some of whom saw service long before the 
Civil War." 

From Meyer's kinsman and friend. Bishop Law- 
rence of Massachusetts, came a note, dated March 2, 
1913: "Now that you are laying down public office, 
at least for a time, I cannot help sending you this line 
of congratulation upon the way in which you have 
filled every office that you have held in city and in 
state, as Ambassador, and as member of the Cabinet. 
With industry, ability, and dignity you have done 
yourself, your family, and your country honour." 

A later estimate of Meyer's work for the Navy, by 
Rear-Admiral Richard Wainwright, the first of 
Meyer's Aids for Operations, appeared in the Boston 
Transcript immediately upon his death. In it these 
sentences are found: "Some Secretaries of the Navy 
have had more opportunities to show their administra- 
tive ability, but none have made better use of their 
opportunities. Under Mr. Meyer, for the first time 
since the establishment of the bureau system in the 
Navy Department, the fleet was placed under the 
control of the military branch of the Navy, and his- 
tory will record that the high standing of the Ameri- 
can fleet during this war was partly due to the firm 
foundation established by George von L. Meyer when 
Secretary of the Navy." 

Apart from the testimony of words Meyer received 
as a parting gift from officers of the Navy — limited 



492 GEORGE von L. MEYER um-im 

in their subscriptions toward it to the sum of one dol- 
lar apiece — a silver model of a galleon. This token 
of appreciation was most dearly prized, for its genuine 
representation of a feeling that corresponded with 
Meyer's own for the personnel of the Navy. 



VII 

The Final Years 

(1913-1918) 

When the Republican party passed out of power in 
1913 — after a tenure of office unbroken, save by the 
two terms of President Cleveland, since the inaugura- 
tion of Lincoln in 1861 — Mr. Meyer became again, for 
the first time in many years, a mere private citizen. 
His pubhc career had been closely identified with his 
political party, to which his entire loyalty was given. 
It would not be strange if the political historian of the 
United States in the first quarter of the nineteenth 
century should find in the year 1913 the ending of an 
old order, the beginning of a new. It was only a year 
later that the entire world began to undergo the 
transformation which since then has fallen upon it. 
The Germany, and, still more, the Russia which Meyer 
had known could hardly be recognized by a re-visitant 
to-day. In the new period of universal change our 
own country can hardly expect to escape unaltered, 
and it is by no means beyond the bounds of possi- 
biUty that the American public life in which Meyer 
held so conspicuous a place will never again be quite 
what it was in the years between 1900 and the out- 
break of the great war. 



494 GEORGE von L. MEYER i^s-ms 

Certainly Meyer himself was in many respects a 
typical figure of his period — a remarkably efficient man 
of affairs applying his energies and his keen intelli- 
gence to the public service, putting into useful prac- 
tice the principle embodied in the maxim to which 
attention was drawn in the early pages of this book, 
" The soul's joy hes in the doing." Typically Ameri- 
can as his career was in these aspects, there were others 
— notably those of its social background and affilia- 
tions — in which more frequent precedents for it would 
be found in England than here. Perhaps still more 
for this reason it represented what is coming, in spite 
of its nearness in point of time, to be known as the 
old order — an ante helium order which in future may 
seem to make of the year 1914 as clear a line of divi- 
sion as 1861 has hitherto been. Meyer did not live 
to see the transition accomplished. The first steps in 
it, however, fell under his observation, and since he 
had become of necessity more an observer of national 
affairs than a participant in their control, with the 
" joy of doing " thus curtailed, the spectacle could 
hardly have yielded him much satisfaction. 

There were nevertheless many things to be done. 
Freed from the cares of office, Meyer soon began to 
concern himself more actively with the affairs of his 
own business and his various directorates. The num- 
ber of these was increased in 1913 by his election as a 
director of the Merchants National Bank in Boston. 
His service on the Board of Overseers of Harvard 
College, to which he had been elected in 1911 for the 
term of six years, claimed an increasing measure of 



1913-1918] THE FINAL YEARS 495 

his attention from the time of his election to the presi- 
dency of that body in 1914. But from March of 1913 
until the outbreak of the war in Europe his life was 
chiefly that of a man of affairs and society, readjust- 
ing himself to new conditions of leisure and oppor- 
tunity. The war changed all that — as it did for 
every one. 

In the summer before the war began Meyer had 
one outstanding experience, of which he himself made 
a complete chronicle. This was his final meeting with 
Kaiser Wilhelm. Meyer was visiting Europe in the 
summer of 1913 with his wife, for a cure at Kissingen, 
when he received an invitation to lunch with the Kaiser 
on his yacht, the Hohenzollern. The conversation 
which took place on this occasion, not only with the 
Emperor but also with the officers attending him, was 
interesting enough at the time; in the light which sub- 
sequent events have thrown upon it, the significance 
of it all has become extraordinary. This is Mr. 
Meyer's record of the day: — 

On August 7, 1913, I took the train from Berlin at 7.30 
A.M. for Swinemiinde, arriving at 11 a.m., and, not being 
expected on the Hohenzollern until 1 o'clock, I went to the 
hotel. As it was not very inviting, I walked in the park belong- 
ing to the town, which delighted me because it had been left 
wild, with alleys cut through the woods meeting from four 
directions at circles, and an unexpected simple little inn with 
roses climbing the walls. 

At five minutes before one I approached the Royal White 
Yacht, lying beside the pier. It was a brilliant day with a sun 
which reminded one of Italy. Only a rope and a couple of senti- 



496 GEORGE von L. MEYER U9i3-m8 

nels kept the good-natured and interested crowd about 200 feet 
from the ship, I was not challenged or stopped by the guard 
although I presented no card ; probably my garb showed that 
I must have been an invited guest, and not a bomb-thrower. I 
found all the guests were in uniform — as is usually the case 
in royal parties in Germany. 

I was the last to arrive, with every one already assembled 
on the main deck, the Kaiser being further forward talking 
with Admiral Muller. 

One of the Masters of Ceremony went up and called His 
Majesty's attention to my arrival. He came forward at once 
in a most cordial way, shook hands and said he was glad to 
see me again, asked after my family, then added : " I want to 
congratulate you on your administration of the American Navy 
for the past four years. I consider you the American von Tir- 
pitz.^ What is your successor going to do with the Navy.? " 
" I am worried," I replied, " because he seems to be more inter- 
ested in the civil than the military end." I recalled to His 
Majesty's mind a remark that he made when I lunched at the 
Palace in Berlin nearly seven years ago as I was returning home 
from St. Petersburg to enter President Roosevelt's Cabinet : 
" You are liable some day to have trouble with Japan, and if it 
does happen it will probably occur just before your Panama 
Canal opens." " Last winter," I added, " when the Japanese 
land-owning difficulty began in California, I remembered your 

1 It need only be said that in 1913 the Kaiser had no higher praise 
to bestow upon a naval official than this. He was quoting from himself 
when he called Meyer " the American von Tirpitz," for about two months 
earlier he had written this phrase on a luncheon menu and handed it to 
an American naval officer, Captain A. P. Niblack, who on September 4, 
1913, wrote to Mr. Meyer as follows: "I see by the newspapers that you 
wore in Germany recently and dined or lunched with the German Emperor 
on board the HohenzoUern. You have therefore probably heard in person 
the nice things he has to say to you. However, you may value the 
enclosed 'testimonial.' I lunched on June 12, 1913, at Dobnitz near Berlin 
with the Emperor at a review of a cavalry brigade, and he wrote on tha 
back of a luncheon menu his compliments to you. I enclose the menu." 

The Emperor's autograph note is reproduced herewith. 




pi 

W 

05 
< 

y 

H 

&^ 
O 

o 

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m3-i9m THE FINAL YEARS 497 

prophecy, Sire, but I had been working to obtain the highest 
military efficiency through a council of aids, the fleet had been 
kept intact and had shown good marksmanship." " Yes," re- 
marked the Emperor, " and as long as you keep your fleet de- 
cidedly more powerful than theirs, you will not be attacked, and 
at present they are very hard up and short of funds." 

I related to His Majesty how we (my wife and daughter, 
Julia) had automobiled from Cherbourg to Kissingen, via Paris, 
and later to Berlin; that we had passed through innumerable 
German cities and towns, and that I was much impressed with 
the signs of prosperity everywhere, never any sign of squalor. 
" I was much impressed," said the Emperor, " on the twenty- 
fifth anniversary of my reign ; in Berlin there were no hooligans, 
and the crowds were well-to-do looking." 

Breakfast was then announced by Count L. and I was 
told to follow the Emperor. General von Plessen joined me 
and recalled a dinner that former Ambassador Tower had given 
the Emperor in Berlin at the American Embassy, and at which 
he (von Plessen) had taken my wife into dinner. 

The General in command of the Military Division of 
Stettin sat on the Emperor's right and I on his left, although 
the Chief of Staff, Count von Moltke, and the Minister of War 
were both at the breakfast. Admiral Muller was on my left, 
and the company was entirely composed of about twenty-two 
officers, military and naval. 

For the first few minutes the Emperor talked with the 
General, and after that turned to me and conversed in a most 
animated and interesting way for the remainder of the breakfast. 

First of all he wanted to know about the new American 
Ambassador — Judge Gerard. As I had known him for several 
years (although not as well as his brother, Sumner) I could 
say that I knew him, and had lately met him in Paris, and the 
day before in Berlin; that he wanted to take a proper house 



498 GEORGE von L. MEYER U9is-wi8 

for an Ambassador, yet he was timid about doing so without 
consulting his Chief in Washington on account of the much 
exaggerated, so-called JcfFersonian simplicity of the Demo- 
cratic party. The Emperor hoped he would keep up the pres- 
tige of an Ambassador, adding that in no Court was so much 
attention paid to an Ambassador as in Berlin. " In a monarchy 
there must naturally be more attention paid to formality ; it 
has been our custom." Evidently if Gerard takes a house that 
compares favourably with the other Embassies, and does his 
share (he personally has the means to do so) it will please 
the Emperor and surely smooth the way for him. . . . 

The feeling between England and Germany was touched 
on, I stating that I thought it had improved in the last six 
months. " Yes," he said, " because England in these Balkan 
troubles realizes that we are more her friend than any of the 
other nations. The King of England's visit to Germany (on 
the occasion of my daughter's wedding) has opened his eyes." 
The Emperor added, " I cannot understand Sir Edward Grey 
having been made Minister of Foreign Affairs ; he does not 
speak any foreign language, and therefore is useless to travel 
around with the King in foreign countries, as he would be 
unable to discuss policies ; besides he is absolutely dependent on 
Nicolson and others in their Foreign Office." Evidently the 
Emperor did not like him, but I could not help saying: " Yet 
Grey really has a charming personality." 

The Kaiser then suddenly said, " I have never forgotten 
a remark you made in the garden of the Schloss at Homburg 
on your way home (in 1907) from St. Petersburg. Do you 
remember? We had an interesting talk over the Russian-Japa- 
nese war, and the bringing about of the Peace Conference at 
Portsmouth, N. H., which you arranged with the Tsar, and 
which I was able to assist from the Berlin end." " I have for- 
gotten, Sire," I replied. " Why, I told you of my uncle's (the 



1913-1918} THE FINAL YEARS 499 

King of England) feeling towards me, due in part to the Ger- 
man world invasion commercially, and you said that Edward 
VII felt that he was — on account of his age — what we call in 
America * a has-been ! ' " 

I then referred to the King of England sending me word 
in London after I had been in Berlin (1907) that he would like 
to see me, and in my audience at Buckingham Palace I realized 
that there was a certain curiosity on his part about my meeting 
the German Emperor before I came to London; but being so 
much of a gentleman he did not press it. 

The Kaiser, speaking of having reigned twenty-five years, 
called attention to the continuance of peace throughout his 
Empire ; — " and yet in the past the world has believed me war- 
like." " But," I added, " history with the eyes of unprejudice 
will judge otherwise." 

I then mentioned my visit to England two years ago when 
I was there in the summer to study the English Navy, and how 
I found the topic of conversation everywhere after dinner was 
the German invasion, and its probability, which was even being 
seriously considered in the Admiralty. 

" Why, we never intended such a thing," quickly responded 
the Emperor. " We intend and will continue to increase in 
every way possible the efficiency of our army, and build up a 
strong navy — not to make war, but to ensure peace, which my 
reign — extending over twenty-five years — demonstrates and 
proves." 

He then called attention to the English-Japanese Treaty 
— "a most unwise action on England's part : it was brought \ 
about by fear of Russia, England not realizing that Russia had ' 
been bluffing. Why, Russia would not have been a dangerous - 
commercial competitor in the East; and Japan is, and will 
seriously and finally impede English trade. But for that treaty 
Japan would not have dared to attack Russia." 



500 GEORGE VON L. MEYER uois-im 

" Yes, Sire," I answered, " I have always felt that England 
was in a great part responsible for Japan's present prominence 
as a world power. I used to embarrass Sir Arthur Nicolson — 
the British Ambassador in St. Petersburg — by asking him if 
England would be obliged to attack us in case of war between 
the United States and Japan." 

I took this opportunity to tell His Majesty that his Mili- 
tary Attache — Major von Herwarth — at Washington was as 
well posted as any diplomat there, and that he had a better 
understanding of our problems than was usual. 

Breakfast was served with despatch, and the food was 
evidently prepared by a French chef or with French training — 
certainly not typically German cooking. The strawberries 
served were so delicious that I longed for a second helping, but 
I refrained from asking for any, as — much to my regret — 
the Emperor did not invite it. The Kaiser giving the signal, 
every one rose and I held back as he went out on the deck, not 
desiring to appear as trying to monopolize his attention. 

I walked out with General von Plessen, who related some 
of his experiences in America with Prince Henry. " Most 
agreeable," as he added, " but rather strenuous ! " 

After lighting his cigarette the Emperor addressed a few 
words to some of his suite, and then came over and joined the 
Minister of War, General von Falkenhayn, and myself. He 
dwelt on the importance in the future of the Teutonic races 
pulling together, and not fighting among themselves and weak- 
ening their resources for the struggle with the yellow races 
which must come some day. 

He then called over the Chief of Staff of the Army — 
General Count von Moltke — and from time to time helped 
himself from the General's cigarette case. Probably in addi- 
tion to being Chief of Staff he is Keeper of the Royal Cigarette 
Case! 



1918-1918] THE FINAL YEARS 501 

Up to this time the Emperor had spoken in English; now 
with von Moltke and the Minister of War he enlarged in Ger- 
man on the history of the Teutonic races and what they had 
accomplished. I referred to a quotation from Chamberlain's 
" Foundations of the 19th Century," with which His Majesty 
agreed, and spoke also in the most complimentary manner of this 
work by Chamberlain, whom he practically considered a German. 
The Emperor added, *' His chapter on the Jews is also worth 
reading." 

It was evident in the course of conversation that he had a 
very poor opinion of Ferdinand of Bulgaria, and said he was 
the greatest intriguer in Europe, and had only been surpassed 
by the late Leopold of Belgium. 

They all discussed the ammunition used in the late Balkan 
war, and how the French manufacturers had instigated and 
circulated false stories concerning the German guns, etc., used 
by the Turks. As a matter of fact the German projectiles had 
brought about the best results. The Greeks had demonstrated 
that, and it was the German projectiles, the Emperor said, 
that had been so successful against the Bulgarians. Constan- 
tine had reported this direct to the German Emperor. 

Count von Moltke asked me where I had just come from, 
and when I replied, Kissingen, the Kaiser said : " The former 
Secretary of the Navy thinks nothing of distance. When he 
was Ambassador at Rome he ran down in his automobile at my 
invitation to Naples — just to dine with me on the Hohen- 
zollem." 

All this time we had been standing in a group leaning 
against the gunwale. It was then 3 o'clock and Count L. 
came up and announced that it was time to start for the 
train. 

The various guests drew their heels together and saluted 
the Emperor, and as I was about to take my leave His Majesty 



502 GEORGE von L. MEYER U9is-ins 

turned to me and asked me to wait: " I want to show you my 
maps.'* 

We went below, and in his saloon were arranged maps 
showing the positions of the various armies when the Balkan 
war opened, the advances of the different armies, and their 
present location. In this way he had kept continually posted 
and in touch with the events of the war. The Emperor be- 
lieves that it is not advantageous to Europe to have Turkey 
annihilated, that they will serve as a barrier to Eastern nations 
in the future. He was evidently much pleased that the King 
of Greece — Constantine, his brother-in-law — had gone to the 
front : an example not followed by the other rulers. 

As I left I mentioned that my son-in-law — Lieutenant 
Raymond Rodgers — might some day come to Berlin as Naval 
Attache. He replied that he hoped he would, and then as we 
parted he shook hands, saying that he had enjoyed seeing me 
again. 

At the station I found the Minister of War and von 
Moltke. The latter was disturbed, having lost his overcoat. I 
was able to describe a coat which had been offered to me as I 
was leaving, and which he realized was his. The Hohenzollern 
being connected with the pier by telephone, he was able to send 
word for it, and it was brought by a sailor just as the train 
was leaving. 

They invited me to go in their carriage to Berlin, and I 
was delighted to break the tedious trip in their company. 

When I had been presented on board the Hohenzollern 
to the Minister of War I congratulated the German Army on 
having a young man at their head. He bowed and was evidently 
pleased, but retorted : " You say that to me, and yet you have 
already been Ambassador to Rome, St. Petersburg, a member 
of Roosevelt's Cabinet, and finally Secretary of the Navy for 
four years : " a retort courteous. He asked if General Wood 



ms-wm THE FINAL YEARS 503 

would be able to come out to the manoeuvres on account of the 
Mexican condition, and added : " It looks as though you would 
finally have to go into Mexico some day." I told him the story 
that the Kaiser told me at lunch of the occasion when Roose- 
velt was at the manoeuvres, and his son, Kermit, said to the 
daughter of the Emperor after the skirmish was over, " And 
now I suppose they will begin killing the prisoners." 

We discussed for some time the Panama Canal and the 
effect it would have. He said : " I wonder how long it will be 
before the locks of the canal will have to be enlarged. We have 
just completed widening the entire Kiel canal. Transatlantic 
ships are rapidly reaching the 1,000-foot limit of your Panama 
locks." 

In speaking of the growth and splendour of Berlin I com- 
plimented them upon the attractiveness of the city, and how it 
was beginning to rival Paris in certain ways. " Ah ! but Paris," 
he said, " has a charm of its own." " Yes, quite true," I added, 
" and I suppose the Emperor has never been there." I saw 
them glance at each other, but the Minister replied : " As far as 
we know, he has not." I apologized at once and said that I had 
not meant it in an inquisitive way. Evidently the story that 
got out some years ago that the Kaiser had been there incog, 
was true. Von Moltke pointed out at that moment the country 
which was the Emperor's game preserve. Then he told me of 
his having marched, after the siege of Paris, with the German 
Army into the city, through the Bois, around the Arc de 
Triomphe (the French having filled it with debris so that they 
could not march through it), down the Champs Elysees to the 
Place de la Concorde — a great experience. The then young 
Lieutenant — the nephew of the great Moltke — is himself 
at the present time Chief of Staff of the Army. 

We were now entering Berlin — our journey was over — 
and as we separated I wondered if these two men would ever be 



504 GEORGE von L. MEYER U9is-ioi8 

called upon to fulfil tlie requirements and accomplish the feats 
of the German War Office of two generations ago. 

In the year between this glimpse of Germany as 
Meyer had long known it and his next experience of 
it, at the very moment when war was beginning, his 
life was that of a man much occupied with business 
and society in his own country. When the memorable 
summer of 1914 came, Meyer, with his wife and 
daughter Julia (now Mme. Brambilla), sailed for Eu- 
rope, June 27, on the Imperator, with delightful plans 
for visits and other pleasures. The ship's wireless 
brought the ill-boding news of the murder at Sarajevo 
on June 28. Landing at Hamburg the Meyers went 
at once to Berlin, where they dined with the American 
Ambassador, Mr. Gerard, and enjoyed seeing many 
friends in the German capital. It will soon be seen 
that there was no more fortunate circumstance of their 
week in Berlin than Meyer's calling upon von Jagow, 
Secretary of State, who had been counsellor of the 
German Embassy in Rome ten years before, and von 
Jagow's returning of this call. When the week was 
done Mr. and Mrs. Meyer proceeded to Kissingen, 
where they were to take the cure, and Miss Meyer, to 
an Italian friend near Milan, a contemplated visit to 
the Duchess of Aosta having been postponed by reason 
of the Duke's illness from typhoid fever. Of their 
experiences through the distracted weeks that followed 
Mrs. Meyer has written the following account: — 

The three weeks of cure were nearly over when war 
rumours reached the town. Dr. Dapper cursed and swore, 




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im-wm THE FINAL YEARS 505 

knowing it was the death knell to his business, and said it was 
nonsense and to pay no attention to these rumours. Yet on 
many trees and in the windows of shops were posters, flaming 
with the hideous word, " Krieg.'* People began to leave very 
quietly: one missed them at meals. Countess von Wedel, whose 
two sons had been called, left for Weimar. H.E. Mme. Leghait,* 
advising us to follow suit, also left at once for Switzerland. 
Anxious to finish our cure, and not as anxious as we should 
have been over the " mobilization," we remained until July 30, 
and then we were glad to leave, for the troops marching by 
sang Die Wacht am Rhein all night, and filled me with fear. 

A great comfort was that a telegram came from Julia, 
where she was visiting Gladys Szechenyi ^ in Hungary, that she 
had left on the first rumour of war — and on the last express 
out of Hungary. So we knew she was then safe in England 
with the McCooks, and we must get to her as soon as possible. 

George decided on Friday evening, July 29, that we should 
leave early the following day. The sanitarium by this time 
was almost empty — in fact was closing — servants having been 
called to their regiments. Dapper was closing some of his 
houses and planning to keep some for hospitals, if they were 
needed. 

On Saturday we were of course ready early. Kissingen 
was quite demoralized, trains uncertain, trunks piled high in 
the station, as there were no baggage men now. Money was 
difficult to get, but George had got all that we needed the day 
previous. While waiting in the station for our train to be 
ready to take us away with a crowd of excited people, we saw 
a private train pull out, and recognized Prince Youssoupoff 
in the window. We read later in the paper that he and his 
family received harsh treatment passing through Germany on 
their journey to Russia, particularly in Berlin. 

1 Wife of the Belgian Minister to Portugal. 

2 The Countess Szechenyi, formerly Miss Gladys Vanderbilt. 



506 GEORGE von L. MEYER um-im 

In the compartment with us were the Spanish Secretary 
and his wife on their way back to their post in Paris. We were 
glad to have such congenial travelHng companions. They got 
much excited at discovering that one of their trunks had not 
been put on the train. We felt very proud that our lot — five 
in all — had been surely put on at Kissingen. We were to have 
a fall yet! 

We reached Stuttgart at midnight, and expected to be 
able to proceed to Paris, but learned that no trains were run- 
ning. Rails were up for miles across the border of France. 
Here we looked for our trunks — nowhere to be found ! How- 
ever, we had suit-cases and a few clothes, and trunks seemed 
now merely extra trouble of which we had been relieved. So 
we went into the noisiest hotel ever built — right over the station 
— but both of us were very weary and glad to get to bed, as it 
was then after midnight. The night was a hideous one, with 
the combination of electric cars, trains, and passing troops. 

We had an early breakfast, and George thought we might 
go into Switzerland and thence to France. So, with Marie and 
faithful Andrew,^ we started for Switzerland on a train that 
left at 7 A.M. We travelled with no interruption as far as 
Carlsruhe, and there we were side-tracked and left. While 
George was out investigating and consulting any official that 
could be found I talked with a woman in the same car. She 
was rushing home to Switzerland with her two little boys, who 
were so excited and delighted over the idea of war. The mother 
felt very differently about it. 

George came soon and got me, with our bags, and said he 
had found we were balked again. To get into Switzerland 
would be next to impossible, and a good train would be coming 
through soon bound north for Cologne; we would take that 
and go across Holland, to England, and there meet Julia. This 

1 Maid and valet. 



1913-1918] THE FINAL YEARS 507 

sounded wise. I sat on a valise and waited. George wandered 
about, and to his surprise found two of our lost trunks piled 
high in the station with others. The train did come through 
about noon, and George of course got first-class seats for us 
with his usual quick cleverness. 

In the train, in one compartment, was a typical English- 
man who had just come from a fishing trip somewhere in the 
wilds, for he had heard no war rumours and was much more 
keen over his fishing tackle than war. 

The trip to Cologne was uneventful: we reached there 
about six. Here indeed one realized there must be trouble of 
some kind. The place was crowded in every direction, private 
motors were being seized and lined up in the Cathedral Square 
for government use, regardless of ownership. In the high tower 
of the Cathedral were cannon already. Indeed, this looked like 
real trouble. We got supper in the hotel and inquired as to 
trains. One was scheduled for nine o'clock to the Hook. We 
decided that would be best, for this was the last day that trains 
would be free for passengers at all — the troops would require 
all after that. However, we had no trunks to check, as the two 
George found had already been side-tracked, but this seemed 
almost a relief ! 

We asked why the crowd outside seemed especially excited, 
and heard that Russian spies were about, that a man dressed as 
a woman had just been shot nearby. 

So it had begun. 

In the hotel were groups of people having tea. Officers 
smartly dressed in their gay uniforms would soon be in the field, 
and nothing would be gay there — far from it. We went to 
the station, and indeed it was in confusion. Crowds and crowds 
of people packed on the platforms, largely made up of relatives 
of these poor young men off to the unknown. I recall a young 
woman, seemingly a widow, pacing the platform holding the 



508 GEORGE von L. MEYER vms-m^ 

arm of a young man whom I supposed her son. I have often 
wondered if he ever came back to her. 

Officials were evidently all gone to join the troops. One 
could get little satisfaction and nothing definite. We and a 
small crowd of Britishers, all anxious to get home and more so 
to leave Germany, were waiting for that promised train to the 
Hook. But train after train came in and out of the station all 
loaded with soldiers, cheering, cheering, and the silent crowd 
would only then cheer, too. A train did come in empty at about 
10, and we all clambered in and felt relieved to be moving once 
more nearer England and Julia. 

This was the thirtieth of July, and I could not in any way 
wire Julia, as no telegrams were permitted, even if this was her 
birthday. At a time like this when every one is excited and 
fearful, it is a relief to talk to one's neighbour, in the train or 
wherever one may be, and in the same compartment was a little 
old German and his wife. They had been to Switzerland for a 
holiday. There they had got a telegram that their two sons 
were called to arms, and they had already left home before they 

could get back to see them. This couple got off at , 

and no sooner were they out of sight than we saw soldiers run 
through the station, a pistol shot, — another " spy " gone. This 
was indeed gruesome, and we were all glad that the train pulled 
out of the station quickly. We were not detained and on we 
went. Bridges were all carefully guarded and all stations. 

Indeed, war had begun. 

At about 11 we reached Cleves and were told the rails 
stopped there, that we must pass the night at Cleves and take a 
trolley to the border in the morning. It was a mystery to me 
how, in so short a time, rails had been ripped up, trolleys sub- 
stituted, and new arrangements organized. No town in sight, 
a ie"^ wagons, lots of men standing about. The travellers all 
took various traps and disappeared. George and I seemed the 



ms-ms] THE FINAL YEARS 509 

last. He had told a taxi to return for us after taking the first 
load, as he wished to go to the hotel out of town. I was sitting 
on a bag, pretty weary after our two days' travel and a good 
deal of excitement, and anxious to hear from and see Julia. I 
whistled (our family notes) for George, who had wandered off. 
I think this must have aroused suspicion, for an officer seemed 
to spring from the earth. He asked us to get into the taxi, 
which had just returned, servants and bags. He got on the 
box and we drove into the town and to the Police Station ! 

We were conducted across a courtyard to a small room, 
and requested, in a very peremptory manner, to open all our 
bags. Nothing was found to excite them until George's pouch 
came to light, and that, they felt sure, must be full of informa- 
tion. George had kept some of his cards of visitors during our 
stop in Berlin, and when the officer came across von Jagow's 
card it acted like a talisman. Our bags were closed. We were 
put in the cab and sent on to the hotel, situated out of town, 
on the hill, the officer saluting most politely. 

How glad I was to fall into bed. Clank, clank — an offi- 
cer's step along our passage ! A knock at the door ! My heart 
stood still — what now? Marie had left all our keys and the 
officer himself had brought them to us out of town. This was 
an unspeakable relief. My nerves were soon at rest. 

The hotel was really situated in a lovely place on the side 
of the hill, and must have been a charming resort and Kurhaus. 
In the morning we had breakfast on the big piazza early, and 
then drove to the town to take a tram which was the only 
means then of crossing the border and getting into Holland. 
The car was supposed to start at 8, but we never got off until 
much later. The officer who had examined our bags the night 
before came to see us off and evidently believed that George 
had known H.E. von Jagow in Rome while U. S. Ambassador, 
and that there was no deception. 



510 GEORGE von L. MEYER Udis-ms 

A funny crowd was packed into that little electric car — 
mostly English and Americans. We learned from some what a 
difficult time they had had getting accommodations at Cleves 
for the night. Many slept out of doors, some in cars, so it was 
due to George's intelligence in going out of town that we had 
nice quarters and quiet. The car stopped at a small village on 
the German border, about two hours from Cleves, and we were 
all told to get out and the women requested to go into a house 
and be searched. I took Marie with me and they seemed to 
think I might be a man in disguise ! Letters and lunch boxes 
were taken from people, but nothing was taken from us, and 
across the border we walked, by a double line of soldiers with 
guns, into Holland. I never thought I could be so glad at leav- 
ing Germany behind me. 

Mrs. Meyer's narrative goes on to tell of meetings 
with American and other friends in England and Scot- 
land, where Mr. Meyer carried out. the plan formed 
in America to join a shooting party of his friend Mr. 
Clarence H. Mackay's near Aberdeen, and of the com- 
fortable saihng of the three thwarted travellers, after 
the rush of returning Americans had spent itself, on 
the Mauretania from Liverpool at the beginning of 
September. 

Among the earliest letters written by Meyer on his 
return was one of September 11 to the Hon. William 
J. Bryan, then Secretary of State. " I have just re- 
turned from Europe," it said, " and I believe that at 
the psychological moment the President and you will 
have to play a most important part in the bringing 
about of peace among the warring nations. I found 
that in England and France men irrespective of part;y; 




GEORGE V. L. MEYER, AVITH HIS SOX AXD GRANDSON OF THE 
SAME NAME 



ms-iom THE FINAL YEARS 511 

were working together to better conditions; therefore 
I am taking the liberty of assuring you, if at any time 
I can be of any service, on account of my acquaintance 
abroad with the leading ministers and ambassadors in 
Europe, and England, combined with experience that 
I had in persuading the Tsar to agree to appoint 
plenipotentiaries with full power to meet Japanese 
plenipotentiaries, that you will feel at liberty to com- 
mand me." This letter, which went on to enumerate 
some of Meyer's personal relationships in Europe, re- 
ceived a courteous acknowledgment. 

About a month later, in a letter of October 15 to 
Mr. Erving Winslow of Boston he wrote: " I sympa- 
thize with Belgium and France, but cannot be blind to 
the misrule of Russia in the past, and her methods of 
government. I do not believe that Russian militarism 
and Russianized German provinces would be a step 
forward if the outcome of the present war depends on 
Russian victories. I also believe in the attitude of our 
President regarding strict neutrality of this country." 

In this final sentiment it will be remembered that 
in October of 1914 Meyer and Roosevelt were at one. 
This is by no means to say that even at that time 
Meyer was in general sympathy with the administra- 
tion. His attitude, on the contrary, was hostile to it, 
and became more and more that of a vigorous critic 
of its policies. Especially in the matter of " pre- 
paredness," he felt that the Government was seriously 
at fault, and employed every means at his command 
to inform and stimulate the public in the direction of 
a greatly enlarged programme of national defense. 



512 GEORGE VON L. MEYER uns-wis 

Naturally the Navy was the chief object of his con- 
cern. He was entirely out of sympathy with his suc- 
cessor's conduct of the Department, and, with all the 
sincerity and conviction of a strong believer in the 
policies to which he had devoted four years of hard 
work, combated the new policies from which he was 
firmly persuaded that a general deterioration of the 
service would result. Unsparing as he was in his 
criticisms of the existing naval administration, espe- 
cially for its reversals of the emphasis he had placed 
upon the more strictly military aspects of the Navy, 
and for its sacrifice of the benefits he had foreseen 
from the firmer establishment of his system of naval 
aids, he did not fail to point out the shortcomings of 
Congress, for many years past, in making adequate 
provisions for the naval forces. 

His appeals to the public took a variety of forms. 
He responded to many requests for addresses to public 
gatherings. He contributed articles to such periodicals 
as the Yale Review, Harper s Weekly, the North 
American Review, and the Metropolitan Magazine. 
He reached the newspaper reading public through the 
Chicago Tribune, the New York Times, and other 
journals. He identified himself with organizations 
promoting the objects he had at heart — the National 
Security League, the American Defense Society, the 
National Allied Relief Committee, the Navy League, 
and the like. The needs and responsibilities of the 
Navy afforded the field in which his special knowledge 
and strongest interest could be brought mto most ef- 
fective play. Thus in the agitation for universal mili- 



ms-i9m THE FINAL YEARS 513 

tary training, it fell to him to plead the necessity of 
preparing young men for the Navy as well as for the 
Army. " Hacking away over preparedness in the 
Navy," was his own description, in a letter, of the 
course to which he was committed before the end of 
1915. In another letter of the same time he defined 
the two chief points on which he was trying to educate 
the public as " military organization in the administra- 
tion at Washington, which means a General Staff and 
a National Council of Defense, and a sufficiently edu- 
cated personnel, both active and reserve, for, as you 
say, ships without men are of no use." To these and 
nearly related matters he was steadily and system- 
atically devoting his energies. 

All these activities, begun early in the war and con- 
tinued to the end of his life under the altered condi- 
tions that arose when the United States joined in the 
conflict with Germany, represented an interest in na- 
tional affairs closely akin to that of Theodore Roose- 
velt. Meyer's affection and admiration for this friend 
of many years was one of the constant elements in his 
life. It was entirely natural, therefore, that when the 
time came, in 1916, to nominate a Republican candi- 
date to contest the reelection of President Wilson, 
Meyer believed that Roosevelt most clearly embodied 
the sentiment with which the President might be suc- 
cessfully opposed, and that to Roosevelt the direction 
of national policies could be most advantageously en- 
trusted. This belief, with its roots in personal, po- 
litical, and patriotic considerations, was not of sudden 
growth. Even before the war began, Meyer had 



514 GEORGE von L. MEYER ims-im 

written to Roosevelt, in June of 1914, expressing the 
hope that he would be " in the pink of condition for 
the great contest which will come off two years hence 
against the Democratic administration," and declaring: 
" If the presidential elections were to come off next 
autumn and there were to be presidential primaries 
throughout the country, I am sure you would get both 
the Republican and Progressive nominations." In the 
spring of 1916, when some of Roosevelt's more impul- 
sive friends in Massachusetts, were bent on sending 
a delegation to the Chicago Convention, pledged to 
the nomination of their candidate, Meyer strongly 
favoured an unpledged delegation, believing that, after 
the failure of the Convention to choose any single 
" favourite son " out of all the minor political groups, 
there would be a general demand for Roosevelt as 
the leader who might bring the party back into power. 
Meanwhile there was much uncertainty about the 
willingness of Mr. Justice Hughes to heed the desires 
of the more " regular " Republican politicians, quit the 
Supreme bench, and become a candidate. The whole 
situation was delicate in the extreme, and Meyer fully 
realized how difficult it would be to persuade a Na- 
tional Republican Convention that the Progressive 
candidate of 1912 could with any propriety whatever 
become the Republican candidate of 1916. Neverthe- 
less he was one of a voluntary group of Roosevelt's 
supporters who came together about three weeks be- 
fore the Convention and decided to make an appeal 
to the country on the ground of offering a candidate 
who should represent qualities and policies squarely 



ms-iom THE FINAL YEARS 515 

antipodal to those of President Wilson. Should the 
plans of the Republican leaders go awry through a 
final refusal by Mr. Justice Hughes to accept the 
nomination, these supporters of Roosevelt believed that 
many would flock to their side and insist on the selec- 
tion of their candidate. 

The leadership in this movement was offered to 
Meyer, and accepted. In the short period before the 
Convention he was the prime mover in the organiza- 
zation of Roosevelt Republican Clubs throughout the 
country. He conducted a brilliant but fore-doomed 
fight, carried to Chicago itself, where he established 
convention headquarters. The fight failed, if for no 
other reason, because Mr. Justice Hughes finally broke 
his silence on the subject of his possible nomination 
by deciding to run for the presidency, and thus 
enabled the " regulars " to carry out their programme. 
A colleague of Meyer's in the endeavour to secure the 
nomination of Roosevelt has ascribed the ensuing 
" disaster to the party " mainly to the fact that " the 
country at large could see but slight difference between 
the views of Mr. Wilson and Mr. Hughes, and, that 
being so, preferred not to ' swap horses.' " Another 
fellow-worker in this enterprise has expressed the 
opinion that " the only cause for the failure to 
nominate the Colonel was that the Meyer plan was a 
hundred days too late in getting into the field"; and 
has said of Meyer's own part in the undertaking that, 
" like all of his efforts in life, it was clean and above 
board, and when it was done he could look every man 
straight in the eye." 



516 GEORGE VON L. MEYER vms-iois 

Meyer showed himself no less devoted a Republican 
in the campaign of 1916 than in that of 1912. He 
provided Mr. Hughes with campaign material to be 
used in the interest of the Navy, rendered valuable 
service in the collection of campaign funds, and exerted 
all his influence for the restoration of his party to 
power. The result of the election in November was 
a bitter disappointment to him. In a letter to Mrs. 
Meyer, written on November 11 from New York, he 
expressed his true feelings : " It has been a most disap- 
pointing and trying election — disappointment in the 
people and discouragement for the Navy during the 
next four years. It was bad enough to see all my 
work undone, but it is terrible to think what might be 
accomplished with the vast appropriations, and actually 
what will not be done. I am tired of answering peo- 
ple's questions of 'how did it happen?'" 

For most Americans with minds and hearts these 
were indeed days of perplexity and travail of spirit. 
The final decision of the country to enter the war came 
like a fresh wind that blew away many clouds of doubt, 
and gave to persons of all varieties of political con- 
victions a clear vision of a united purpose. To those, 
like Meyer, who had rendered genuine service to the 
cause of preparedness came a reassuring sense of hav- 
ing accomplished something, though less than they de- 
sired, towards fitting the country for the physical part 
of the struggle. There were many works of foresight 
and mercy to be done, and it is good to record of 
George Meyer that, besides entering heartily into such 
immediate matters as the projects for ampler food 




LAST PHOTOGKATH OP' MR. MEYER, WITH HIS SOX AT ilAMlL- 

TON, NOVEMBER, 1917. FROM A SNAPSHOT 

BY MRS. MEYER 



ms-ms} THE FINAL YEARS 517 

production in Essex County and the forwarding of 
local Red Cross enterprises, he made his last appear- 
ance in public early in February of 1918, slightly more 
than a month before his death, as a speaker at a mass 
meeting on behalf of Italian war relief at the Tremont 
Theatre in Boston. By this time his personal interest 
in the conduct of the war was keenly sharpened by the 
fact that his son, having entered the Army through the 
Harvard Regiment and Plattsburg, was serving his 
country as a Captain of Infantry and aide to General 
Leonard Wood, that one son-in-law was in the active 
service of the Navy, and another in the Diplomatic 
Corps of the Italian Government. Thus for those 
nearest to him, and consequently for himself, the war 
was anything but an abstract or remote affair. 

Meyer's domestic life during these final years was 
singularly happy. To his great satisfaction, he could 
pass more of his time at Hamilton than in any of his 
periods of office-holding. In April of 1913, his daugh- 
ter Alice was married in Washington to Lieutenant 
(now Commander) C. P. R. Rodgers, of the Navy. 
Before the end of this year the marriage of his son, 
and namesake, with Miss Frances Saltonstall, took 
place. In the winter there were holidays at Aiken, in 
the summer on the Restigouche^ where the salmon- 
fishing delighted and refreshed him as in earlier years. 
Near the end of 1916 he began the formidable under- 
taking, mentioned near the beginning of this book, of 
moving his house at Hamilton from its original road- 
side position to a commanding site on a nearby hill, 
establishing himself and Mrs. Meyer meanwhile in a 



518 GEORGE von L. MEYER uois-im 

smaller house in the neighbourhood in order to follow 
the work, which greatly interested him. This was ac- 
complished in August of 1917, and on October 1 his 
daughter Julia was married, at the transplanted 
mansion-house, to Signor Giuseppe Brambilla. 

Those who saw him at this time, gay, apparently 
well, interested in everything, bent on giving pleasure 
to his family and friends, could hardly have realized 
that in the previous winter he had undergone what was 
called a " slight operation " but was in reality the occa- 
sion of a grave illness. From time to time in the 
course of the preceding narrative it has been seen that 
physical aihnents had called for " cures " and vaca- 
tions. These effects of a Russian diet for two years 
and the strain of intense activities for many more 
would doubtless have made themselves more frequently 
felt but for Meyer's constant practice of physical 
exercise. By its means he kept himself in a state of 
bodily " fitness " which made any semblance of disease 
quite foreign to him. While Secretary of the Navy 
he had continued to go about his work through an 
attack of " walking typhoid." So now, through the 
last year of his life, he hid the suffering of a fatal 
illness from all but the most penetrating eyes, enjoy- 
ing and causing others to enjoy whatever pleasures 
were to be had — until for a few last weeks the hand 
of pain closed his door to the outer world. The ideal 
of the sportsman — to " do your job " and " take your 
punishment " without flinching or complaint — is after 
all an ideal to which true men and women must always 
turn with admiration and respect. It was in this spirit 
that Meyer faced and met his end. He died March 9, 



! 



ms-im^ THE FINAL YEARS 519 

1918, at his home in Boston, 54 Beacon Street, of 
tumour of the liver. He had not quite attained the 
age of sixty. " In a comparatively few years," a 
friend well said of him, " he lived a long life." 

Many other friends said many other things in ap- 
preciation and praise. Out of all these expressions it 
is enough at this point to take but one — the word 
that came immediately to Mrs. Meyer from Theodore 
Roosevelt: — 

! There Is nothing I can say that will in any way lighten 
your grief; and that I dearly loved George you already know. 
Yet I cannot forbear writing you a word of deep sympathy. 
You have been a staunch friend; your sorrow would be our 
sorrow in any event; and in this event we mourn George as we 
would mourn very, very few outside our own family. He was 
as loyal and devoted a friend as ever lived; he possessed that 
fine courage and fearless uprightness of character which mark 
only the few among all whom we meet on our way through 
life; and he was a singularly useful public servant. I prized 
his friendship greatly; I felt honoured by my association with 
him in public work. 

It is idle to try to comfort you; and yet, my dear Mrs. 
INIeyer, as we of our generation draw near the inevitable, it 
is a fine thing to meet it with the gallant heroism your husband 
showed ; and you yourself have " warmed both hands at the fire 
of life " ; much, very much, has been yours. 

" As loyal and devoted a friend as ever lived " — 

" a singularly useful pubhc servant." The record of 

, George Meyer's life and work cannot be brought to a 

: more fitting conclusion than with these words from 

one who knew whereof he spoke. 



INDEX 



The black letter initial M stands throughout for the subject of the work. 
Because of the length of the index, some other abbreviations, easily under- 
stood, have been used. 



A. D. Club, 6. 

Abbott, Lyman, 392, 405. 

Abruzzi, Duke of the, entertained 
by M. in U. S., 358 f.; at James- 
to^vn Exposition, 361; 50 and n., 
55, 68, 69. 

Adami, Mr., 305, 306. 

Adami, Mme., 306. 

Adams, Charles Francis, 44. 

Adams, John Quincy, 242, 243. 

Adalbert, Prince, 214, 218, 337. 

Adee, Alvey A., 145, 204, 219. 

Aehrenthal, Baron d', on the pros- 
pects of the Algeciras Confer- 
ence, 262; on Russian situation, 
298; 146, 184, 208, 261, 278, 299- 

Aguera, 252. 

Aguinaldo, Emilio, 43. 

Alaska, 131. 

Albert, Prince, of Schleswig-Hoi- 
stein, 98, 

Alcibiades, as a model for diplo- 
mats, 323. 

Aldrich,"1srelson W., 418, 443. 

Alexander III, Tsar, 206. 

Alexander, King of Servia, murder 
of, 73, 410. 

Alexander Palace, at Tsarskoe Selo, 
141 f. 

Alexandra, Queen of Edward VII, 
135, 142, 339, 484. 

Alexandra Feodorovna, Tsarina, 
gives birth to an heir, 100; M., 
received by, 142; first impression 
of, 142; her alleged influence over 
the Tsar, 145, 146, 226, 333, 349; 
M.'s farewell audience with, 331, 
333; fails to understand condi- 
tions, 333; 140, 143, 157, 195, 260, 
261, 280, 329. 



Alexandria Victoria, Princtess, of 
Holstein, 337. 

Alexis, Grand Duke, 151, 152, 252. 

Alexis, Tsarevitch, 142, 245. 

Alfonso XIII of Spain, 217, 484. 

Algeciras Conference over Moroc- 
can situation, 138; preliminaries 
of, 243; attitude of France and 
Great Britain toward, 243, 246; 
feeling in Russia concerning, 255; 
Lodge's speech on, '2^Q; d'Aehren- 
thal on prospects of, '2Q2; France 
and Germany at, 263; Roosevelt 
looked to as mediator in case of 
deadlock, 264; Russia how con- 
cerned in outcome of, 264, ^Q5; 
prospects of satisfactory conclu- 
sion of, 265, 266; Lamsdorflf's in- 
structions to Cassini, 269; close 
of, 269; Kaiser on Italy and Aus- 
tria at, 272; U. S. dossier con- 
cerning, 284. 

Alvensleben, Graf von, 147, 163, 
164, 165, 173, 185. 

Alverstone, Lord, 44. 

Amadeo, Duke of Savoy, unveiling 
of statue of, 53, 54. 

American Academy at Rome, open- 
ing of exhibition of, 82, 83; pur- 
chase of Villa -Mirafiori for, 91; 
45, 105, 

American Architects, Society of, 

109. 
American Defense Society, 512. 

American Historical Review on con- 
ference of Tsar and Kaiser at 
Bjorke, 185 n. 
Amerika, Hamburg-American liner, 

228. 
Ames, Adalbert S., 388. 



521 



522 



INDEX 



i 



Ames Plow Co., 12. 
Amnesty for political prisoners, in 
the Duma, 283, 284; Goremykin 
annoimces denial of, 288, 289. 
Amoskeag Mfg. Co., 12. 
Ananias Club, 414. 
Andr6, Grand Duke, 207, 311. 
Andreiva, Gorky's pseudo-wife, 272. 
Annenkoff, M. and V., 33.5 n. 
Andrews, Philip, U. S. N., 471 

and n. 
Antoniny, hunting at, 313, 314, 316; 
description of, 314; conditions of 
peasants at, 314, 315. 
Aosta, Duchess of, quoted on Rus- 
sians and Grand Dukes, 135, 136; 
50 and n., 51, 53, 54, 73, 83, 101, 
102, 103, 104, 107, 466, 504. 
Aosta, Duke of, ceases to be heir 
presumptive to Italian throne, 
100, 103; 50 and «., 53, 54, 55, 
58, 63, 68, 69, 70, 73, 100, 101, 
104, 107, 504. 
Appleton, Charles H., 13, 19, 
Appleton, Frank R., 207. 
Appleton, Isabella (Mason), 13. 
Appleton, Marian Alice, M7s wife. 
See Meyer, Marian A. (Apple- 
ton). 
Arcos, Duke and Duchess d', 196. 
Ardea (Italy): duck-shooting and 

hunting at, 64. 
Argentina, a possible Italian repub- 
lic, 64. 
Armistice, proposed in Russo- 
Japanese War, 175, 176. 
Armour, J. Ogden, 59, 61, 74. 
Ascoli, Duchess of, 81, 82. 
Ascoli, Duke of, 82. 
Astor, Nancy (Langhorne), 485. 
Astor, Waldorf, 485. 
Atlantic Monthly, 258 and n., 270 

and n. 
Atlantic Ocean Trust, 62. 
August William, Prince, 337. 
Augusta Victoria, German Empress, 
74, 85, 214, 215, 218, 228, 230, 
336, 337. 
Austria and the Kaiser, 272. 
Automobiles: M.'s prophecy con- 
corning, in 1897; and Victor Em- 
manuel III, 38, 39. 
Aviation: beginnings of, 440 and n. 



Bacon, Elliot, 484. 
Bacon, Martha, 388. 
Bacon, Robert, 62, 91, 93, 96, 207, 
210, 219, 222, 373, 374, 376, 381, 
388, 389, 420, 479, 
Bacon, Mrs. Robert, 388, 420, 426. 
Bagno, Marchioness of, 68. 
Bagot, 46. 

Baku, trouble in, 210. 
Balacheff, A., 336 n. 
Balaclava, battlefield of, 320, 
Balkan War: German ammunition 

in, 501; Kaiser's maps of, 502. 
Ballinger, Richard: controversy with 
Pinehot over conservation, etc., 
445; 442. 
Bankers' dinner: M.'s address at, 

416. 
Barber, Colonel, U. S. A.. 479. 
Baring, Maurice, on aflPairs in Mos- 
cow, 266, 267; 186. 
Barney, Mr., Pres. of Knicker- 
bocker Trust Co., commits suicide, 
375. 
Barrere, Camille, criticizes Russian 
government, 117, 118; 51, 56, 69, 
70, 71, 81, 113, 114, 121, 128, 131, 
146, 155. 
Barrett, John, 91. 
Barry, T. H., U. S. A., 189 and n. 
Bates, John L., 96. 
Bear-hunting in Russia, 248-251. 
Beeckman, L., 91. 
Beehler, W. H., U. S. N.. 58, 478. 
Belloy, Marquise de, 303. 324. 
Belosselsky, Prince, 197, 207, 236, 

252, 261, 271, 274, 295, 336 71. 
Belosselsky, Princess, 147, 207, 236, 

271, 274, 295, 302, 335 n. 
BenckendorflF, Count von, on Alge- 
ciras Conference, 264; 244, 246, 
271, 331, 333, 335 n., 484. 
BenckendorflF, Countess von, 246, 

254. 
Bennett, James Gordon, 479. 
Beresford, Lord Charles, 50. 
Berlin: court life at, 84-86; royal 
palace at, 84, 85; M.'s visit to in 
February, 1905, 125 ;f., and De- 
cember, " 1905, 225-230. 
BernoflF, M., on disturbances in 

Russia, 119, 120, 123. 
Bernstorff, Count, addition to 



INDEX 



523 



Diplomatic Corps,_415; and Jus- 
serand, rivalry between, 441. 

Bernstorif, Countess, 415. 

Bersaglieri, the, 55. 

Bernstein, Herman, The Willy- 
Nicky Correspondence. 185 n. 

Bertie, Lady Feodora, 90. 

Bertie, Sir Francis, 90. 

" Bey." See Meyer, George von 
L., Jr. 

Bianchini, Signor, 54. 

Bigelow, William S., 463. 

Bingham, Henry H., 27. 

Birileif, Admiral, 180, 204, 205. 

Birrell, Augustine, 486. 

Bismarck, Prince Otto von, 109, 
226. 

Bjorke, conference of Tsar and 
Kaiser at, 185 and n., 188, 191. 

"Black Hundred" (Russia), reviv- 
ing influence of, 309. 

Black Sea fleet. See Odessa. 

"Blacks": gathering of, at farewell 
dinner to M. in Rome, 132. 

Blair, Woodbury, 443. 

Blair, Mrs. Woodbury, 443. 

Blight, Miss, 68. 

Bliss, Cornelius N., 92, 93, 105. 

Bliss, Robert W., 139, 153, 209, 261, 
266. 

BlUcher, Gebhard L. von, 4. 

Boardman, Mabel T., 426. 

Bobrinskoy, Count, 271, 335 ». 

Bobrinskoy, Countess, 271, 330, 
335 n. 

Bodrero, Captain, 80. 

Bonaparte, Charles J., 322, 323, 
385, 386, 397. 

Bompard, M., 146, 165, 166, 204, 
261, 263, 267, 270, 278, 294, 298. 

Boris, Grand Duke, 196, 302. 

Boston, in 1879, 10, 11; Mugwump 
sentiment in, 19; Ninth ward of, 
19; City Council of, M,'s service 
in, 17, 20, 

Boston Harbour, 35-foot channel 
in, 25. 

Boston Herald, interview with M. in, 
18. 

Boston Journal, 488. 

Boston Navy Yard, 455. 
a. Boston Transcript, 491. 

Bourgeois, Leon, 216, 268. 



Bowen, Herbert W., 66 nnd n., 89. 

Bradley, backer of Dr. Cook, 465. 

Brambilla, Giuseppe, marries Julia 
Meyer, 5, 8, 13, 76, 78. 

Brambilla, Mme. Julia (Meyer), 
504, 505, 506, 508. 

Brancaccio, Palazzo, Rome, M.'s am- 
bassadorial residence, 34, 35, 36. 

Bremerton Navy Yard, 471, 472, 
473, 476. 

Brent, Bishop Qiarles H., 57. 

Bresci, assassin of King Humbert, 
44. 

Brigham, Nathaniel M., 96. 

Bristol, Lord, 485. 

British-Japanese treaty. Kaiser on, 
499. 

Bronson, Admiral, 219." 

Brown, William C, 482. 

Brusati, General, 78, 81, 82, 100. 

Bruschi, Count, 48. 

Bruschi, Countess, 68. 

Bryan, William J., and the free- 

i silver agitation, 27; in Rome, 80, 

I 81; in St. Petersburg, 289, 290, 
291; and Gov. Haskell, corre- 
spondence with Roosevelt, 403^; 
letter of M. to, on affairs in Eu- 
rope (July, 1914), 510, 511; 105, 
373. 

Bryan, Mrs. W. J., 289. 290. 

Bryce, Viscount, 350, 391, 415. 

Bulygin Report, 187. 

Billow, Prince Bernhard H. von: 
M.'s interview with, 226-28; on 
affairs in Russia and her needs, 
227; disavows purpose to put 
pressure on France at Algeciras, 
247; on the modern diplomat, 
323; 59, 60, 63, 69, 84, 225, 231, 
264. 

Bureaucracy, in Russia, evil influ- 
ence of, 173, 174, 178; methods of, 
197, 198. 

Burr, Francis H., 404. 

Burr, I. Tucker, 95. 

Butler, Nicholas M., 92, 93. 

Butt, Archibald W., U. S. A., 403, 
426 and n., 443. 

Buxton, Sydney, and " penny post- 
age," 391, 392, 407; 486, 486. 

Byalostok, massacre of Jews at, 
292. 



524 



INDEX 



Cadets. See Constitutional Demo- 
crats. 

Cadwalader, Miss, 319. 

Calabrini, Marchioness, 78. 

Calabrini, Marquis, 47, 76, 78, 81. 

California: Tsar on school regula- 
tion in, 332; school question, 
339; Roosevelt on discrimination 
against Japanese in, 415. 

Cambon, Jules, 347. 

Cambon, Paul, 347. 

Campaign funds in presidential 
elections, 265. 

Canada, postal savings bank system 
in, 368; 340. 

Cannon, Joseph G., opposes postal 
savings banks, 376, 377; and Con- 
gressional talk of sympathy with 
Roosevelt administration, 390 ; 
and the Conference Committee on 
Payne-Aldrich Tariff Bill, 443; 
94, 369, 397, 398, 427. 

Cantacuzene, Prince, 295, 335 n. 

Cantacuzene, Princess, 295, 335 n. 

Caperculzie shooting, 147, 148, 150. 

Capps, Washington L., U. S. N., 
464, 469. 

Cardigan, Lord, 320. 

Carlo Alberto, King of Sardinia, 
160. 

Carow, Miss, 94. 

Carpenter, Mr., 465. 

Carter, J. R., 347 and n., 348. 

Carter, Thomas H., 390, 418, 436. 

Cassini, Count, 118, 153, 164, 166, 
167, 168, 169, 194, 196, 255, 268. 

Castro, Cipriano, 65, 428. 

Catherine, Russian Empress, 273. 

Caucasus, conditions in, 150. 

Cecchignola, hunting at, 50, 51. 

Cecilia, German Crown Princess, 
214, 215. 

Central America, troubles in, 427; 
policy of U. S. toward, defined by 
Knox, 427, 428. 

Cervera y Topete, Pascual, 480. 

Chamberlain, Houston S., his Foun- 
dations of the Nineteenth Cen- 
tury, 501; "practically a Ger- 
man," 501. 

Chandler, L. H., U. S. N., 467. 

Chanler, Winthrop, 91. 

Chappelle, Mgr., Archbishop of New 



Orleans, and the Philippines, 40, flj 
41, 42. ■! 

Chatham Navj^ Yard, 483. 

Chelius, Herr von, 88. 

Chicago, U. S. S.: arrest of officers 

of, at Venice, 52. 
Chicago Becord^Herald, 374. 

Chicago Tribune, 512. 
China, neutrality of, in Russo- 
Japanese War, 86; integrity of, 
109, 113, 384; Kaiser on her neu- 
trality and integrity, 126; feehng 
for, in U. S., 131; and the nego- 
tiations between Russia and Ja- 
pan, 194; rumours of secret treaty 
with Russia, 257; Kaiser on Rus- 
sia's proper attitude toward, 339, 
and a possible coalition of Japan 
and, 346. 

Choate, Joseph H., and Roosevelt, 
431 ; 44, 398. 

Choate, Mrs. Joseph H., 44. 

Christian IX, of Denmark: death of, 
253 and n. 

Christian, Prince of Schleswig-Hol- 
stein, 305, 306. 

Christianity in the East, 229. 

Chuknin, Admiral, 319. 

Churchill, Winston S., 485. 

Clark, Clarence D., 417. 

Clark, Mrs. Clarence D., 417. 

Class of 1879, H. C, 17, 95, 96, 
221. 

Clemenceau, Georges, quoted, 324; 
" Eduard VII has bought and 
owns him," 339. 

Clemens, Samuel L. (" Mark 
Twain"), 272. 

Cleveland, Grover, last illness and 
death, 397, 398; 19, 493. 

Cohen, Mr., 318. 

Collier's Weekly, 400. 

Cologne Cathedral, 62. 

Colombia and Japan, 365, 371; re- 
lations of U. S. with, 389; treaty 
with, 414. 

Colonna, Prince Prospero, 71, 81, 82. 

Commune, the (1871), 328. 

Conger, Seymour B., 295, 324. 

Connaught, Arthur, Duke of, 217, 
485. 

Connaught, Duchess of, 485. 

Constantine, Crown Prince, after- 



INDEX 



525 



wards King, of Greece, 214, 215, 
218, 501, 502. 
Constantine, Grand Duke, 252, 253, 
Constantine, Grand Duchess, 252, 

253. 
Constitutional Democrats (Cadets) 
win in election at St. Petersburg, 
268; Witte and, 269; will control 
Duma, 277, 285; their candidate 
for President, 277; and Crown, 
drifting apart, 298; Tsar should 
take a Cabinet from, 298; unwise 
methods of, 310; 291, 300. 
Cook, Frederick A., and Peary, 464, 

465. 
Coolidge, J. Templeman, 95. 
Coolidge, T. Jefferson, 324. 
Corea, exclusive influence of Japan 

in, 194. 
Corporations, tax on net income of, 
favored by Taft, 434, 435, 438, 
439. 
Corsini, General, 76, 77, 78. 
Cortelyou, George B., Roosevelt's 
candidate for chairman of Repub- 
lican National Committee, 92, 93; 
Roosevelt's letter to, on issue of 
bonds, etc., 375, 376; 322, 354, 
365, 373, 374, 380, 381, 405, 412. 
Cost-accounting in Navy Depart- 
ment, 454, 455, 470. 
Cotton, Charles S., U. S. N., 74. 
Council of Empire (Russia), reor- 
ganized, first session of, 282; how 
constituted, 282; how described by 
a peasant deputy, 284. 
Cowles, William S., U. S. N., 359. 
Cowles, Mrs. William S., 268, 359. 
Cramps' Shipbuilding Co., 469. 
Cranborne, Viscount, 44. 
Crane, W. Murray, 93, 96, 387, 

417. 
Cranley, Viscount, 186. 
Crimea, The, 320. 
Csekonics, Count Ivan, 147 and n., 

165, 184, 252, 299, 302. 
Cuba: M.'s visit to, 477-481; people 

of, 479. 
Cummins, Albert B., 434. 
Currie, Lady, 33, 47, 49. 
Curtis, Mr., 80. 

Dagmar, Dowager Empress of Rus- 



sia, 140, 141, 253, 272, 280, 328, 
335. 
Dalny, 194. 

Daniels, Josephus, M. disagrees with 
his conduct of Navy Department, 
512. Letter of M. to, 489. 
Dajjper, Dr. (Kissingen), 504, 
Dashkoff, M., 271, 274. 
Davis, Clenin, U. S. N., 396, 
Dawes, Charles G., 91. 
Dead Letter Office, 409. 
Delcasse, Th^ophile, Kaiser's suspi- 
cions of, 127; M.'s interview with, 
139; resigns, 216; Kaiser on, 216, 
217; 229. 
Democratic Party, more united than 

usual in 1908, 410. 
Depew, Chauncey M., 93, 
DernidorfF, OrloflF, 271. 
Dickinson, Jacob M., 426, 429. 
Dillon, E. J., 232 w; The Eclipse of 

Russia, 283 n. 
Diplomatic uniforms, M, on, 389, 

390. 
Disarmament, at the Hague Con- 
ference, Kaiser on, 340; Victor 
Emmanuel on, 343; Sir E. Grey 
on, 343, 344. 
Discriminating duties (Russian) 
against U. S., history of, 201, 202. 
Dodge, H. Percival, 226. 
Dogger Bank incident, 203. 
Dolgorouky, Prince, 310, 311, 331, 

335 «., 415. 
Dolgorouky, Princess, 244. 
Doria, Prince, 46. 
Doria, Princess, 46. 
Doty, George H., 388, 
Douglas, William L., elected Gov- 
ernor of Mass. in 1904, 105. 
Douglas, Mrs. 62. 
Dournovo, M., resigns, 277; 242,267, 

269, 272. 
Draga, Queen of Servia, assassi- 
nated, 73, 410. 
Draper, Eben S., 96, 387, 426, 463. 
Draper, William F., 28, 48 and w. 
Drew, Mrs., 485. 
Dubassof, M., Governor-General of 

Moscow, 252. 
Duma (first), Tsar decides to sanc- 
tion convoking of, 192, 193; prep- 
arations for meeting of, 282; 



'526 



INDEX 



meeting of, delayed, 234; outlook 
for meeting of, 256; a factor to 
be reckoned with, 239; regarded 
as a panacea for all grievances, 
240; elections for, in Moscow, 
266, 267; opening of, in Tauride 
Garden, 273, 278-281, 285; Tr6- 
poflF quoted on, 275 ; practically all 
members-elect opposed to govern- 
ment, 275; controlled by Cadets, 
277, 281 ; uncertainty as to its ac- 
tion, 277; Tsar's reception by, 
280; his address, 280, 281; general 
impression of members of, 281; 
purposes actuating different ele- 
ments of, 281, 282; its second ses- 
sion, 283; Muromtseff chosen 
President, 283; question of am- 
nesty for political prisoners, 283, 
284; reply to the speech from the 
throne, 283, 284, 286, 287; Tsar 
refuses to receive delegation with 
the reply, 284; constitution of, 
285; varying ideas of members of, 
287; collision with Crown prob- 
able, 288; Goremykin announces 
denial of amnesty, 288, 289; Is- 
wolsky on, 291; not understood by 
Goremykin, 292; dismissed, and 
why, 300; its projected manifesto 
on agrarian questions, 300. 

Duma (second): date fixed for 
meeting of, 300; Iswolsky on 
probable attitude of, 333, 349. 

Durand, Sir H. Mortimer, 350. 

Eastern Yacht Club, 85, 218. 

Eddy, Spencer, 111, 129, 132, 139 
153, 165, 224, 296, 303. 

Edward VII, at home, 67-69; criti- 
cized by Kaiser for attempting to 
weaken Triple Alliance, 217, 218; 
and the Kaiser's birthday present, 
230; Kaiser on his relations with 
Clemenceau and his government, 
339; and the Hague Conference, 
340, 349, 350; M.'s audience with, 
384-386; his visit to Germany, 498; 
44, 70, 138, 142, 211, 305, 336, 347, 
354, 484. And see Great Britain. 

Edwards, Clarence R., U. S. A., 396. 

Egerton, Sir Edwin, 121, 122, 123, 
124, 128. 



Egerton, Lady, 123, 128. 

Eisendecker, Admiral, 59, 74. 

Eitel, Friedrich, Prince, 228. 

Elena, Queen of Italy, M.'s impres- 
sion of, 41, 45, 46, 49; gives birth 
to a son, 100; 47, 50, 53, 54, 55, 57, 
67, 68, 71, 72, 76, 77, 78, 79, 81, 
82, 107, 108, 128, 129, 134, 135, 
245, 260, 270. 

Eliot, Charles W., dinner given to 
m Washington, 429, 430; his 
speech, 430; dinner given by Har- 
vard Club of N. Y. on his retire- 
ment, M.'s speech at, 430, 431; 
given degrees of LL. D. and M. 
D., and made president emeritus, 
435; 5, 96. 

Elizabeth of Hesse, Grand Duchess 
Serge, 320, 321, 333, 349. 

Elkins, Stephen B., 361. 

Elkins, Mrs. Stephen B., 361. 

Elkins, Miss, 359. 

Ellis, Mr., 394. 

Enfiineering Magazine, quoted, in 
M.'s administration of Navy De- 
partment, 457. 

England: M.'s visit to (1911), 481 ;f. 
And see Great Britain. 

Equitable Life Assurance Co., 183. 

Erskine, David M., 319. 

Essex Agricultural Society, 37, 38. 

Essex Club, 26. 

Essex County (Mass.), and the My- 
opia Hunt Club, 14. 

Eulenberg, Count, 230, 337. 

Evans, Robley D., U. S. N., Roose- 
velt's special instructions to, in 
Eastern waters, 384, 385; 155. 

Expropriation of private land 
(Russia), 288, 291, 292, 300. 

Fairbanks, Charles W., 396, 424, 

425. 
Falgari, Count Bruschi, 33. 
Falkenhayn, General von, 497, 500, 

501, 502, 503. 
Feodora, Princess, 84. 
Ferdinand, Tsar of Bulgaria, 501. 
Ferdinand, Crown Prince (now 

King) of Roumania, 485. 
Fersen, Count, 271, 274, 311, Z35 n. 
Fersen, Countess, 271, 274, 311, 415. 
Filipinos, The, Abp. Chappelle on, 



\ 



INDEX 



527 



41; MacArthur's opinion of, 43. 

Financial panic of 1907, beginning 
of, 374 and n., 375; measures of 
Cabinet to relieve, 375, 376. 

Fisheries treaty with Great Britain, 
415. 

Fletcher, F. F., U. S. N., 467, 468. 

FUnt, Charles R., 150, 151, 207. 

Florio, Donna Franca, 128. 

Flotow, Herr von, 337. 

Foraker, Joseph B., Taft and, 402, 
404. 

Fore River Engine Co.: M.'s alleged 
relations with, 419. 

Foreign letter postage: reduction of, 
sought by M., 367; proposed re- 
duction, approved in Great Brit- 
ain, 391 and n.; adopted as be- 
tween U. S. and Great Britain, 
392, 407, 408; letter of J. H. Hea- 
ton on, 407. 

Fort Hill Chemical Co., 12. 

Foss, George E., 469 and n. 

Foster, John W., 165. 

Foster, Murphy J., 417, 463. 

Fraginito, Duke of, 33, 34. 

France, alliance with Russia, llTj 
118, 121, 185, 188, 189, 268; feeling 
of diplomats of, toward Russia, 
127, 128; alliance with Great 
Britain, 185; attitude of press of, 
in conference of Tsar and Kaiser, 
188, 189; and the dispute over 
Morocco, 216, 217; her great stake 
in Russia, 227; attitude of gov- 
ernment toward Algeciras Con- 
ference, 243; wishes moral sup- 
port of Russia, 243; fears Ger- 
man demands, 243, 246; designs 
antagonistic to, disavowed by von 
Billow, 247; Spring-Rice on dan- 
ger of irritation with Germany, 
256; Schoen on nervousness of, 
262; and Germany, at Algeciras, 
262, 263, 266, 268; signs of good 
feeling with Germany distasteful 
to Great Britain, 339, 340; and the 
integrity of China, 384. 
Francis Joseph, Emperor, 217. 
Franckenstein, Herr von, 165. 
Franklin, Benjamin, 409. 
Fraseo, Count, 80. 



Frasso, Prince, 123. 

Frasso, Princess, 123. 

Frederick the Great, 228. 

Fredericks, Baron, 185. 

Free list (tariff), Taft's position on, 

442. 
French Revolution, parallel between, 

and events in Russia in 1905, 233, 

234; 241. 
French tariff, 381. 
Frescheville, M. de, 140. 
Frothingham, Louis A., 400. 
Fuller, Melville W., Chief Justice, 

425, 426. 
Funston, Frederick, 43. 
Furstenberg, Prince, 88, 196, 236, 

246, 247, 271, 274, 330. 
Furstenberg, Princess, 85, 248, 271, 

274, 330, 486. 
Furstenberg von Furstenberg, Prin- 
cess, 85. 
Fusinato, Signor, 106, 136. 

Galitzine, Princess, 261, 290, 295, 
331, 335 n. 

Gallinger, Jacob H., 417. 

Ganghofer, Herr (novelist), 323, 
324. 

Gapon, Father, murder of, 283 and 
».; 115. 

Gardner, Augustus P., 28. 

Garfield, James R., 95, 222, 397,403, 
406, 409, 411, 421. 

Garfield, Mrs. Helen N., 420. 

Garibaldi, Giuseppe, 87. 

Garibaldi, Ricciotti, and the Mace- 
donian question, 87. 

Garrett, J. W., 226. 

Genoa, Duchess of, 53 and n. 

Genoa, Duke of, 50 and n., 53 and 
n., 54, 68, 69, 107. 

"Gentleman from Mississippi, The," 
403, 404, 405. 

George Michailovitch, Grand Duke, 
260. 

Gerard, James W., Kaiser curious 
about him, 497, 498, 504. 

Gerard, Mrs. Mary, 504. 

Gerard, Sumner, 497. 

Germany: feeling in, toward Russia, 
114; bankers in, and the Russian 
loan of 1905, 114, 121; Victor 
Emmanuel on probable agreement 



528 



INDEX 



of, with Russia, 122, 126; provi- 
sions of new treaty with Russia, 
156; rumors of agreement be- 
tween Russia and, 185 and n., 
188; and France, 209; and Great 
Britam, relations why strained, 
217, 218; optimism in, concerning 
Russian affairs, 227; feeling to- 
ward, in Great Britain, 230; 
French distrust of, in advance of 
Algeciras Conference, 243, 246; 
disavows purpose of putting pres- 
sure on France, 247; Spring- 
Rice on danger of French irrita- 
tion with, 256; and France, at 
Algeciras, 263, 266, 268; election 
in (1907), 332, 338; signs of good 
feeling between France and, dis- 
tasteful to Great Britain, 339 
340; and Russia, 340; natural ally 
Of U. S. in case of war with 
Japan, 340; and disarmament, 
6*5, 346; "making up" to U. S., 
350; hysteria over, in Great Brit- 
ain, 433, 434; her merchants un- 
derselling British evervwh'ere, 
433; and the "barbarities'" pro- 
hibited in war, 440 n.; relations 
between railroads and army and 
navy in, 482; in 1913, 493; Kaiser 
on increasing her army and navy 
—to insure peace, 499, 500; ex- 
perience of the Meyers in, in July. 
1914, 505-510, 

Gianotti, Count, 34, 136. 

Gianotti, Countess, 71. 

Gibson, Major, U. S. A., 313, 3ir 

Gillett, James N., 416, 473, 476. 

Giolitti, Signor, 104. 

Glasoff, M., 192. 

Glavis, Mr., and the Ballinger- 
Pinchot controversy, 445. 

Goat Island (San Francisco), 474, 

Goelet, Mrs., 61. 

Goleschowski, Count, 272. 

Goodrich, Caspar F., U. S. F., 469 

Goss, Mrs. C. A., letter of M. to! 
489. ' 

Goremykin, M., appointed Prime 
Minister of Russia, 276; an- 
nounces denial of amnesty to po- 
litical prisoners, 289; M.'s inter- 



view with, 291, 292; his complaint 
of British press, "owned by 
Jews," 292; M.'s impression of, 
292; does not grasp the situation, 
292; resigns, 301. 

Gorky, Maxim, in U. S., 272, 282. 

Goubastow, M., 299. 

Goudovitch, Countess, 274. 

Grant, Frederick D., 29.3, 361. 

Grant, Mrs. Frederick D., 93. 

Grant, Ulysses S., 391. 

Graves, Lieut., U. S. A., 404, 

Gray, Miss, 59. 

Great Britain, Kaiser's feeling 
toward (1905), 127; and the com- 
mercial results of Russo-Japanese 
War, 214; strained relations with 
Germany augmented by jealousy 
between King and Kaiser, 217, 
218; feeling toward Germany in, 
230; and the Algeciras Confer- 
ence, 243; system of appointing 
ambassadors in, 258; relations 
with Russia compromised by 
Times correspondent, 274; Go- 
remykin complains of press of, 
292; signs of good feeling between 
France and Germany distasteful 
to, 339, 340; aim of her alliance 
with Japan, 340; Hardinge on rela- 
tions with Japan, 346; disarma- 
ment in, dependent on Germany's 
policy, a45, 346; and the integrity 
of China, 384; Roosevelt on her 
Turkish policy, 410; "fisheries 
treaty with, 415; hysteria in, over 
Germany, 433; Parliament bill 
(1911), 484, 485 and n.; Kaiser 
on feeling between Germany and 
(1911), 498. 

Grelle, M. de, 303. 

Grelle, Mme. de, 303. 

Grelle, Rogier, Comte de, 303. 

Grey, Sir Edward: M.'s interview 
with (1907), 344-346; his person- 
ality, 344; quoted, on disarma- 
ment, 344, 345; Kaiser on, 498; 
336, 347, 354, 485. 

Griscom, Lloyd C, 61, 62. 

Griswold, Frank, 177. 

Groton School, 21, 187. 

Griimer, Herr von, 88. 

Grumm, Captain, 98, 



INDEX 



529 



Guantanamo, harbour of, as a naval 
base for defense of Panama 
Canal, 481; 477, 478. 

Guglielmi, Marquis, 132. 

Guicciardini, Countess, 68. 

Gurka, M., 324. 

Hagner, Miss, 403. 

Hague, The, Russia wishes peace 
conference with Japan to be held 
at, 166 and n.; Kaiser quotes Ed- 
ward VII on, 340; question of dis- 
armament at, 340, 343, 3-14; Ed- 
ward VII on, 350. 

Hale, Eugene, 419, 433, 439, 469. 

Halsbury, Earl of, 485. 

Hamilton, Mass., home of Myopia 
Hunt Club, 14, 15; M.'s residence 
at, 15, 26. 

Hanna, Marcus A., 93. 

Harbin (China), 194. 

Harcourt, Lewis, 485, 486. 

Harcourt, Sir William Vernon, 44. 

Hardinge, Sir Charles, on England's 
attitude toward Algeciras Con- 
ference, 243; on Japan and G' at 
Britain, 346; 147, 149, 165, 169, 
186, 191, 205, 246, 340, 344, 347. 

Hardinge, Lady, 165, 196. 

Hardy, Alpheus H., 11. 

Hardy, Alpheus H. & Co., M. enter' 
employ of, 11. 

Harper, Mr., 273. 

Harper's Weekly, 466, 512. 

Harriman, J. Borden, 91. 

Harvard Alumni Bulletin, In. 

Harvard Club of New York, 430, 

Harvard Stadium, 95 and n. 

Harvard University, M.'s course in, 
6, 7; confers LL.D. on M., 6; 
M. President of Overseers, 6, 494, 
495; Kaiser's gifts to, 60; Com- 
mencement (1904), 398, (1909), 
435; gives degree of LL.D. and 
M.D. to President Eliot, 435. 

Haskell, Charles N., Governor of 
Oklahoma, and Standard Oil, 
403, 404, 405, 406, 410. 

Hatzfeldt, Prince, 337. 

Hatzfeldt, Princess, 337. 

Haughton, Percy D., 404. 

Havana, 478-480. 

Hawaii, 339, 371. 



Hay, Adelbert, 486. 
Hay, John, death of, 172, 176; M.'s 
estimate of, 173; on M.'s work at 
St. Petersburg, 484; Senate re- 
fuses to allow him to accept 
French decoration, 431; 65, 66, 
81, 86, 109, 127, 155, 177, 187, 194, 
210. 

Hayti, affairs in, 89, 107. 

Heaton, J. Henniker, letter to M. on 
penny postage, 407. 

Helena, Princess Christian, 305. 

Henderson, Nevile, 301, 302. 

Henry, Prince, of Prussia, 59, 60, 
61, 74, 85, 142, 143, 215, 228, 230, 
600. 

Herrick, Myron T., 42, 92, 93, 482. 

Her rick, Mrs. Caroline M., 93. 

Herwarth, Major von, 500. 

Hesse, Prince of, 214, 215. 

Hesse, Princess of, 214, 215. 

Hibben, Mr., 299, 300. 

Higgins, Frank W., elected Gover- 
nor of N. Y., 105. 

Higginson, Henry L., 44, 95. 

Hill, David Jayne, 389, 390. 

Hintze, Captain, 185, 328. 

Hitchcock, Frank H., 384, 393, 399, 
412, 413, 442. 

Hoar, George F., 28. 

Hobson, Richmond P., 480. 

Hoffman, William, 486. 

Hohenlohe, Prince von, 189, 195, 196, 
206, 207, 209, 236, 252, 261. 

HohenzoUern, royal yacht, Mrs. 
Meyer lunches on, 97-100; M. 
lunches on, 495 -ff. 

Rjlmes, John A., 363, 369. 

Holstein, Duchess of, 228, 229. 

Homburg, M.'s interview with Kaiser 
at, 211 f .; 41. 

Honduras, 428. 

Howard, Captain, U. S. N., 108. 

Howells, William D., 272. 

Hsu Keoh, 87. 

Huene, Baron, 239, 266, 330, 335 n. 

Huene^ Baroness, 239, 330, 335 ra. 

Hughes, Charles E., as candidate for 
Republican nomination for Presi- 
dent, 365, 373; candidate for Gov- 
ernor of N. Y., 410; and the 
Republican nomination in 1916, 
514, 515; as candidate, supplied 



530 



INDEX 



by M, with campaign material, 

516. 
Hugo, Victor, 398. 
Humbert, King of Italy, 34, 44, 

119. ^' > > 

Iddings, Lewis M., 32, 67, 76. 

Iddings, Mrs. Lewis M., 67. 

Ignatieff, General, 193. 

Imatra, salmon-fishing at, 196 and 
n., 299. 

Immaculate Conception, celebration 
of, 107, 108. 

Imperiali, Marquis, 484. 

Income tax, constitutionality of, 435. 

Insurance companies, in N. Y., in- 
vestigation of, 265. 

Irene, Princess Henry, 85, 230. 

Iswolsky, M., succeeds Lamsdorff 
as Russian Minister for Foreign 
Affairs, 282, 283; M.'s opinion 
of, 288, 338; on the situation in 
the Duma, 291 ; and the Byalostok 
massacres, 293, 294, 296; on French 
and British press, 310; M.'s final 
interview with, 333 f.; quoted, on 
the Tsarina, 333; on the second 
Duma, 333; on negotiations with 
Japan, 334, 335 ; 290, 304, 309, 330, 
332, 336, 339, 354, 415. 

Italian Chamber of Deputies, pro- 
ceedings in, 65. 

Italian war relief, M.'s last public 
appearance at meetitng in behalf 
of, 517. 

Italy, McKinley appoints M. Am- 
bassador to, 28; M.'s service as 
Ambassador to, 30-136; office of 
U. S. Ambassador to, a " listening- 
post" in the European world, 36, 
37; and the Venezuela affair, 65, 
66; and the Republic of Panama, 
79; Socialist demonstrations in, 
104; parliamentary elections in, 
106; favourable to ai'bitration 
treaty with U. S., 106; agrees to 
participate in second Hague Con- 
ference, 106, 107; opening of Par- 
liament, 107; in accord with U. S. 
on integrity of China and the 
Open Door, 109, 113; M. resigns 
as Ambassador to, 118; advance 
in prosperity of, during his stay, 



134; M. on his ambassadorship, 
136; her lukewarm support of 
Germany at Algeciras, 272; M.'s 
attachment for, 343; parcel-post 
convention with, 397. And see 
Victor Emmanuel HI. 

Ito, Marquis, Witte's opinion of, 
182; 169, 

Ivan the Terrible, 325. 

Jackson, John B., 479, 480. 

Jagow, Herr von, M.'s interview 
with, in July, 1914, and its sequel, 
604, 509. 

James, Thomas L., 392. 

Jamestown Exposition, 360, 361. 

Japan, breaks off diplomatic rela- 
tions with Russia, 83; Italian 
sympathy with, 83; Victor Em- 
manuel III on progress of, 90; I 
cause of change of feeling of ' 
British and Americans in East 
toward, 112, 113; policy of, as 
to Port Arthur and Sakhaline 
Island, 124, 125; loan of 1905, 
133, 134; her fleet destroys Rus- 
sian fleet, 151, 152; her army un- 
conquerable, 160; consents to 
'pourparlers with Russia, 163; in- 
vited to send representatives to 
conference in U. S., 164; her 
agreement to send plenipotenti- 
aries announced by Roosevelt, 
175; and the proposed armistice, 
175, 176, 180; and U. S., alleged 
secret alliance between, 183; prob- 
able demands of, for territory and 
immunity, 194; progress of nego- 
tiations at Portsmouth, 194; is 
she trying to humiliate Russia?, 
195; waives claim to war-indem- 
nity, 203; her war expenses, 203, 
204; her fijiancial condition, 204; 
her attitude toward peace influ- 
enced by her idea of conditions 
in Russia, 204; her financial status 
and its influence on Russia's 
attitude, 205, 206; and the com- 
mercial results of the war, 213, , 
214; asks Roosevelt to make peace 
for her, 220; Iswolsky on nego- 
tiations with, 334, 335; her exact- ; 
ing demands, 334; and the Open 



INDEX 



531 



Door, 335; Kaiser on prospects of 
war between U. S. and, 339; her 
scheme of conquest, 339; has spies 
everywhere, 339; Kaiser on pos- 
sible coalition of, with China, 346; 
Hardinge on relations of Great 
Britain with, 346; supposed ar- 
rangement with "Colombia in case 
of war with U. S., 365, 371 ; Root 
on relations of, with U. S., 371; 
possibility of war with U. S., 377; 
Kaiser's statement as to her troops 
in Mexico, 383; Cabinet discus- 
sion on, 383, 384; expense of her 
army and navy, 383; Roosevelt on 
" sublimated sweetbreads " who 
ignore chance of trouble with, 
383; his instructions to Evans as 
to precautions, 384, 385; rumours 
of her designs circulated by 
Kaiser, 385; invites U. S. fleets 
to visit her ports, 385; wishes to 
study U. S. system of cost-ac- 
counting, 470; apprehension of 
attack by, on Pacific coast, 472. 
And see Portsmouth, Russo- 
Japanese War. 

Japanese, discrimination against in 
California and Nevada, con- 
demned by Roosevelt, 415, 416, 

Japanese immigration, 381. 

Japanese lady, the only one in St. 
Petersburg, 303. 

Japanese prisoners of war, M.'s 
service in caring for, 211, 253. 

Jay, Augustus, 95. 

Jews, participation of, in revolu- 
tionary disturbances in Russia, 
239; persecution of, 297; preju- 
dice against, in Russia, 302; in 
Odessa, 316, 318, 319; class of, 
who emigrate to U. S., 318. And 
see Byalostok. 

Joachim, Prince, 337 and n. 

Johnston Gate, The (Harvard), 7. 

Jones, Beatrix, 486. 

Jones, Mrs., 486. 

Jusserand, Jules, " President of the 
Mollycoddles," 381; on Roose- 
velt as a worker, 431; and Bern- 
storif, rivalry between, 441; 337, 
360, 377, 378, 412, 420, 

Juliano, Count, 46, 



Jusserand, Mme. Jules, 367, 360, 420. 

Kaiserlichen Yacht Club, 58, 69. 

Kaneko, Mr., 220. 

Kaulbars, Baron, Military Governor 
of Odessa, his policy, 317; at- 
tempt on his life, 317, 318; on 
Jews of the emigratory class, 318. 

Kaulbars, Baroness, 317, 

Kean, John, 417. 

Kean, Mrs. John, 417. 

Keller, Count, 252. 

Kelley, Captain, 479. 

Kernochan, Mrs., 362. 

Key West, 477, 478. 

Kiel, yacht races at, 58 ff". 

Kiel Canal, 62, 503. 

King, Monsignor, 88, 89, 

Kinnicutt, Dr., 486. 

Kitchener, Earl, 485, 

Kleinmichel, Countess, her house in 
St. Petersburg becomes U. S. Em- 
bassy, 144; was it "a palace"? 
259; 208, 252. 

Klemperer, Mrs., 58. 

Knickerbocker Trust Co., 374 71.. 

KnoUys, Lord, 230 and n., 384. 

Knox, Philander C, appointed Sec'y 
of State by Taft, 414; why in- 
eligible for Cabinet, 417; on policy 
of U. S. toward Central America, 
427, 428; 420, 426, 432, 433, 442. 

Knox, Mrs. Lillie (Smith), 417. 

Knvaz-Potemkin, battleship, mutiny 
on, 172, 173, 176, 177, 179. 

Koester, Admiral von, 464. 

Kohlsaat, H. H., 93. 

KokovtzoflF, M., 154, 156, 192, 195, 
201, 202. 

Korea, 334. 

Korff, Baron, 244, 261, 331. 

Kotschowsky, Princess, 211. 
Kremlin, The, 320, 321. 

Kuropatkin, General, 113, 129, 

Labor unions (Russian), leaders of, 

arrested, 234. 
Lafarge, John, 359. 
Lafarge, Mrs. John, 359. 
Laffan, William M., 464 and n., 

465. 
La FoUette, Robert M., 92. 
Larasdorff, Count, and M.'s request 



532 



INDEX 



for immediate audience with Tsar, 
157, 158; prefers Tiie Hague to 
Washington for peace conference, 
but finally agrees to the latter, 
166-169; quoted by Hardinge on 
selection of plenipotentiaries, 169; 
seeks to frustrate Tsar's good in- 
tentions, 173, 174; "tricky and 
not absolutely reliable," 178; 
change in his attitude, 179; his 
unfortunate communique, 180; op- 
posed to a national assembly, 187, 
192; dinner given by, to Motono, 
267; his instructions to Cassini 
at Algeciras, 268; 141, 149, 151, 
154, 163, 164, 170, 171, 172, 175, 
181, 183, 185, 186, 193, 195, 198,206, 
207, 208, 210, 242, 264, 276, 282, 
338. 

Langtry, A. P., 387. 

Lanier, Mr., 62. 

Lansdowne, Marquis of, on affairs 
in Russia, 223, 224; 227, 231, 347, 
485. 

Lante, Duchess Grazioli, 56. 

Lante, Ludovico, 79. 

La Rosa, Duke of, 48. 

Lascelles, Sir F. C, 340 and n. 

Lawrence, Amory A., 417. 

Lawrence, James, 383. 

Lawrence, Julia, 417. 

Lawrence, Rt. Rev. William, on 
M.'s work in Navy Dep't, 491; 
96, 416, 417. 

Lee, Fitzhugh, 388. 

Leghait, Madame, 123, 505. 

Leo XIII, Pope, 56, 70. 

Leopold, King of Belgium, 45, 501. 

Le Roy, Stuyvesant, 177. 

Lester, Reginald, 123. 

Letitia, Princess, 53 and n. 

Leuchtenberg, Duchess of (Princess 
Anastasie of Montenegro), 260, 
342 and n., 349 and n. 

Leuchtenberg, George, Duke of, 260, 
342 n. 

Leutze, Eugene H. C, U. S. N., 460, 
461. 

Libau, revolt of marines at, 171, 
173, 176, 178. 

Lincoln, Abraham, 493. 

Linden, Admiral von, 218. 

Linder and Meyer, M. becomes a 
member of, 11, 12. 



Linevich, General, 189, 204, 242, 253. 

Littauer, Lucius N., and the tariflF 
on ladies' gloves, 443. 

Livadia, Tsar's palace at, 320. 

Lodge, Henry Cabot, 42, 75, 76, 
93, 94, 96, 108, 109, 115, 119, 251, 
296, 357, 365, 381, 387, 388, 401, 
403, 425, 426, 427, 429, 431, 432, 
436, 440, 463, Letters of M. to, 
119, 127, 129, 231, 255, 277, 329. 

Lodz, disturbance at, 173, 176. 

Loeb, William, Jr., 393. 

Logan, G. W., U. S. N., 467. 

London, M.'s visit to, in 1905, 223, 
224; 41, 42. 

London Daily Telegraph, 232 n. 

Long, John D., 93. 

Longworth, Alice (Roosevelt), 400, 
428, 437, 443. And see Roosevelt, 
Alice. 

Longworth, Nicholas, 377, 437, 443. 

Loomis, Francis B., 219. 

Lords, House of, bill limiting pow- 
ers of, 484. 

Loreburn, Earl, 486. 

Los Angeles, 475, 476. 

Lothrop, George V. M., 289 and n. 

Loubet, Emile, at Rome, 89, 90; 76, 
216. 

Louise, Princess, 102, 103. 

Lovenorn, M. de, 153, 253, 289. 

Lowell, A. L., new Pres. of Har- 
vard, 435, 436. 

Lowell, Francis C, quoted, on M., 
23, 24; his Atlantic paper on 
" American Diplomacv," 258 and 
n. Letter of M. to, 258. 

Lyman, Geoerge H., 93. 

Lyncker, Hofmarshal von, 87, 88, 
211, 212, 215. 

MacArthur, Arthur, U. S. A., re- 
port on the Philippines, 42, 43; 
41. 

McCall, Samuel W., quoted, 24, 25. 

MacCawley, Charles, U. S. N., 396, 
443. 

McCormick, Robert L., 129 and n. 

McEnery, Samuel D., 463. 

McKenna, Reginald, 484, 485, 486. 

McKim, Charles F., and the restora- 
tion of the White House, 63, 67; 
31, 91, 105, 109. 



INDEX 



533 



McKim, Mrs. Charles F., Mrs. 
Meyer's sister, 31. 

McKinley, William, appoints M. 
Ambassador to Italy, 28, 29; M.'s 
interview with at Canton, O. 
(1901), 42, 43; shot at Buffalo, 
43; his death, 43; M.'s impression 
of, 44; memorial service for, at 
Westminster Abbey, 44; 105, 263. 

McKinley Tariff Act, and Demo- 
cratic claims, 201. 

MacNutt, Francis A., 40 and n. 

MacVeagh, Franklin, 426, 432, 434, 
443. 

MacVeagh, Wayne, 48 and n. 

Macedonia, and Turkey, proposed 
arbitration between, 87; 112. 

Mackay, Clarence H., 510. 

Mafalda, Princess, 63 and n., 78. 

Malvano, Signor, 136. 

Manchuria, in the treaty between 
Russia and Japan, 194; 112, 
334. 

Manila, 40. 

Marcoe, Dr., 62, 484. 

Marcoe, Mrs., 62, 484. 

Marconi system, 60. 

Mare Island Navy Yard, 474, 

Margherita, Queen-Mother (Italy), 
M.'s impression of, 48; M.'s fare- 
well audience with, 133; 33, 58, 
102, 108. 

Marlborough, Duchess of, 486. 

Martin, M., 303. 

Martini, Countess, 68. 

Massachusetts, elects Democratic 
governor in 1904, 105; attitude of, 
on tariff, 443. ^ 

Massachusetts House of Repre- 
sentatives, M.'s service in, 21 /f ., 
25, 26; M. Speaker of, 21, 22; 
passes resolution of thanks to M., 
23, 24. 

Massachusetts State House, preser- 
vation of " Bulfinch front " of, 25, 
26. 

Mayor des Planches, Signor, 83. 

Meadowbrook Club, 14. 

Mechin, Mme., 123. 

Medhurst, Mr., 312, 313. 

Medici, Peruzzi di, 64. 

Medici Palace (Turin), 103. 

Melegari, Chevalier, 147. 
Melegari, Mme., 208. 



Mengden, Count, 335 n. 
Mengden, Countess, 276, 335 n. 
Merchants Nat'l Bank of Boston, 

12, 494. 

Merry del Val, Cardinal, 90, 135. 
Mestchersky, Prince, 336 n. 
Mestchersky, Princess, 336 n. 
Metcalf, Victor H., 322, 358, 360, 

363, 395, 396, 397. 
Metcalf, Mrs. Emily C, 359, 360. 
Metropolitan Magazine, 612. 
Mexico, rumours as to Japanese 

troops in, 383; Falkenhayn on 

probable intervention of, in U. S., 

503; 428. 
Meyer, Alice, M.'s daughter, marries 

C. P. R. Rodgers, U. S. N., 517; 

13, 28, 51, 76, 77, 98, 129, 132, 
135, 151, 152, 277, 288, 295, 302, 
359, 417, 426, 437. Letter of M. 
to, 259. 

Meyer, F. L., M.'s great-uncle, 4, 
Meyer, George Augustus, I, M.'s 

grandfather, 3. 
Meyer, George Augustus, II, M.'s 

father, 3, 6, 11. 
Meyer, George von Lengerke. 

I. Beginnings. — Birth and an- 
cestry, 3-5 ; his course at Harvard, 
5, 6; first visit to Europe, 6; rows 
on his class crew, 7; his addic- 
tion to sports, 7, 8. 

II. A fairs and Politics. — En- 
ters oflSce of A. H. Hardy & Co., 
11; becomes a member of Linder 
& Meyer, 12; director in many 
large corporations, 12; marries 
Marian A. Appleton, 12, 13; his 
children, 13; and the Myopia Hunt 
Club, 13, 14, 15; and Rock Maple 
Farm, 15; becomes interested in 
politics in Boston, 16, 17; in the 
Common Council, 17, 19; "caught 
young " in politics, 18 ; a " regu- 
lar " Republican, 18, 19; a resi- 
dent of the Ninth Ward of Bos- 
ton, 19; a member of Ninth Ward 
Republican Committee, 20; goes 
from Common Council to Board 
of Aldermen, 20; his work in the 
City Council, 20; elected five times 
to Mass. House of Representa- 
tives, 21; Speaker, 1894-1896, 21; 
his success in the Speakership, 21, 



534 



INDEX 



22, 23-25; advice to his son, 22, 
23; F. C. Lowell and S. W. Mc- 
Call, on his qualitites as a legis- 
lator, 23-25; summary of legis- 
lation with which he was specially 
associated, 25, 26; establishes legal 
residence at Hamilton, Mass., in 
1896, 26; Chairman of Mass. Paris 
Exposition Managers, 26; political 
activities, 26; a "sound-money 
man," 26, 27; and Roosevelt's 
nomination for Vice-President, 
27; contemplates running for 
Congress in Sixth Mass. District, 
27, 28, 51; offered Ambassador- 
ship to Italy by McKinlej-, 28; 
and accepts, 29. 

III. Ambassador to Italy. — 
Appointment confirmed by U. S. 
Senate, 30; begins to keep a 
diary, 30; faithfulness and au- 
thenticity of the diary, 30, 31; 
arrival at Naples, 32; poisoned 

by eating fish, 32; arrival at 

Rome, 32; first audience with the 
King, 33, 34; moves from Grand 
Hotel to Palazzo Brancaccio, 34, 

35, 36; his Riceinmento, 34, 35, 47, 
48; his diarv in Rome summarized, 

36, 37; 39; his social relations, 37; 
hunting in the Campagna, 37, 50, 
51, 79; 80, 81, 82, 83; his prophecy 
concerning the automobile in 1897, 

37, 38; introduces the motor-car 
to the King, 38, 39; audience with 
the King, 40; at Homburg, 41, and 
in London, 41, 42; visits McKinley 
at Canton, 42, 43; on the shooting 
and death of McKinley, 43, 44; 
attends memorial service at West- 
minster Abbey, 44; and Leopold 
of Belgium, 45; returns to Rome, 
45; audience with the King, 45; 
and the American Academy at 
Rome, 45; audience with Queen 
Elena, 45, 46; at the Doria Palace, 
46; at Court reception to Diplo- 
matic Corps, 46, 47; audience with 
Margherita (Queen Mother), 48; 
dinner at Court, 48, 49; plays 
cards with clergj'man on Sunday, 
49; at the opening of Parliament, 
60; arrest of U. S. naval officers 



at Venice, 52, 63; visits Turin, 53- 
65; visit of the Shah of Persia to 
Rome, 55-57; at Naples, 57, 68; 
rumours of a change in the Em- 
bassy, 58; the Concours Hippique 
at Turin, 68; meets the Kaiser at 
the yacht races at Kiel, 5Sf.; 
presented to the Kaiser, 59, and 
converses with him, 60; visits U. 
S. in summer of 1902, 62, 63; 
returns to Rome, 63; audience 
with the King, 63, 64; shooting 
and hunting at Ardea, 64; at meet- 
ing of Anglo-American Home, 64, 
65; on the Italian Chamber of 
Deputies, Q5- on Italy and the 
Venezuela affair, 65, 6Q; the minor 
troubles of an ambassador GQ- 
amateur theatricals at Palazzo 
Brancaccio, QQ, 67; talks with Gen. 
Hood on Roosevelt's prospects of 
nommation and election in 1904 
67; gala performance at the opera 
m honour of Edward VII, 68 69- 
audience with the Kaiser at Rome, 
70, 71; reception to the Kaiser, 
71; a picturesque spectacle at 
Venice, 72; induces Italian gov- 
ernment to exhibit at St. Louis, 
72, 73; on the murder of King 
and Queen of Servia, 73; again at 
Kiel yacht races, 74, 75; talk with 
Kaiser on Mediterranean situa- 
tion, 75; again visits America in 
summer of 1903, 76; complimented 
by Roosevelt, 76; hunting at San 
Rossore, 76-79; talk with Tittoni 
on recognition of the new Repub- 
lic of Panama, 79; has a fall while 
hunting, 80; W. J. Bryan at Rome, 
80, 81; first rumblings of Russo- 
Japanese war, 81; talks with the 
King thereon, 82; opening of 
American Academy, 82, 83; on 
the break between Russia and 
Japan, 83; finds Italian sympathy 
with Japan, 83; on the attack on 
Port Arthur, 84; talks with Kaiser 
at Berlin about the Russo-Japa- 
nese war, 84, 86; two Court balls, 
84, 85, 86; on the U. S. as medi- 
ator between Turkey and Mace- 
donia, 87; Hsu Keoh, and the 



INDEX 



535 



neutrality of China, 87; dines 
with Kaiser on Hohenzollern at 
Naples, 88; at Monte Casino Mon- 
astery, 88, 89; audience with the 
King on Panama Canal, etc., 89; 
on President Loubet, 89, 90; audi- 
ence with the King, on Russo- 
Japanese war, etc., 90; in the U. 
S. in 1904 for Republican National 
Convention, 91 f.; and the oppo- 
sition to Cortelyou as Chairman 
of National Committee, 92, 93; 
dines and lunches at the White 
House, 94, 95; Roosevelt proposes 
to take him into his Cabinet, or 
give him another Ambassadorship, 
95, 100, 101; at 25th anniversary 
of Class of 1879, 95, 96; on the 
birth of Prince Alexis, Tsarevich, 
and the Prince of Piedmont, 100; 
rumours as to liis transference to 
Paris or Berlin, 101; visits Aosta 
at Turin, 101-104; on Socialist 
activities in Rome, 104; on the 
Dogger Bank incident, 104, 105; 
congratulates Roosevelt, 105; on 
the election of a Democratic Gov- 
ernor in Mass., 105; on Italian 
elections of 1904, 106; opening of 
Italian Parliament, 107; on the 
King's speech, 107; audience with 
the King, 107; celebration of the 
Immaculate Conception at St. 
Peter's, 107, 108; his rumoured 
appointment to Paris, 108, 109; 
Roosevelt offers him Ambassador- 
ship to Russia, 110, 111, which 
he accepts, 112; on change of feel- 
ing toward Japan, 112, 113; on the 
integrity of China and the Open 
Door, il3; on prestige of U. S, 
government as to China, 113; urges 
upon Roosevelt the need of a spe- 
cial Americon courier, 114, 122; 
on the diplomatist who leaves his 
post in fear of revolution, 115; on 
the aspect of affairs in Russia as 
seen from Rome, 116, 117; the 
Tsar's lost opportunity, 116, 117; 
on the appointment of Gen, Tr6- 
poff as Governor-Gen. of St. 
Petersburg, 117; on France's posi- 
tion with respect to Russia, 117, 
118; resigns as Ambassador to 



Italy, 118; on the King's popu- 
larity, 119; on the increasing 
strength of public sentiment in 
Russia, 120, 121 ; on the Russian 
loan, 121, 122; talk with the King 
on divers subjects, 122; on the 
murder of Grand Duke Serge, 123; 
conversation with Sir E. Egerton, 
reported to Roosevelt, 124, 125; 
visit to Berlin, 125 f.; interview 
with Kaiser as to Russia, and as 
to possible cooperation of Ger- 
many and U. S. in the Far East, 
126, 127; on the feeling between 
Great Britain and Germany 
(Kaiser), 127; on French criticism 
of Russian administration, 127, 
128; appointed Ambassador to 
Russia, and confirmed, 128, 129; 
attends Court ball and talks with 
the King, 128, 129; his anticipa- 
tions as to his reception at St. 
Petersburg, 130; regrets lack of 
special courier, 130; secures spe- 
cial courier, 130 n.; interview with 
Chinese minister on sincerity of 
U. S., 131 ; dinner given to him 
in Rome, 131, 132; list of hosts, 
131; farewell audience with Queen 
Mother, 133; on talk of peace, 133, 
134; farewell audience with the 
King, 134; on the advance in pros- 
perity in Italy since 1901, 134; 
on the playing of baccarat at the 
Clubs, 134; farewell dinner by 
King and Queen, 134, 135; audi- 
ence with the Pope (Pius X), 
135; farewell audience with 
Duchess of Aosta, 135, 136; leaves 
Rome, 136; on the friends he had 
made in Italy, 136. 

IV. Ambassador to Russia. — 
Characteristics of his diaries and 
letters during his stay in Russia, 
138, 139; interview with Delcass6 
in Paris, 139; arrival in Russia, 
139; on Russian costumes and 
sleeping-cars, 139; first days in 
St. Petersburg, 140 f.; on Lams- 
dorff, 141 ; audience with Tsar and 
Tsarina at Tsarskoe Sel6, 141 ^., 
145; his impression of them, 141, 
142, 145; on the prospects of 
peace in the East, 144; on condi- 



536 



INDEX 



tions in Russia, 144, 145, 149, 
154 ;f., 173, 174; 176, 178, 190, 229, 
231, 232, 233, 234, 236, 237, 238, 
239, 240, 242, 251, 256, 257, 296, 
297, 302, 309, 316 f., 329; on his 
welcome, 144, 146; on the Tsar's 
reception of Roosevelt offer of 
good offices, 145, 146; on the 
Tsarina's influence, 145, 146; so- 
cial amenities, 146, 147; shooting 
capercailzie, 147-149, 150; on the 
Tsar's concession of religious free- 
dom, 149; on lack of system and 
preparation, 150; on the visit of 
Schwab and Flint to St. Peters- 
burg, 150, 151; on the destruction 
of the Russian fleet, 151, 152, 153; 
on Rosen and Cassini, 153; on 
corruption in Russian govern- 
ment, 154, 155; on Pobedonost- 
zeff's influence, 155; on the dis- 
criminating duties (Russian), 155, 
156, 190, 193, 194, 195, 196, 201, 
202; on the Tsar's procrastination, 
156; obtains immediate audience 
with Tsar to present Roosevelt's 
invitation to arrange meeting of 
plenipotentiaries, 157, 158; details 
of the audience at Tsarskoe Sel6, 
158-161; obtains the Tsar's assent, 
161; diary entries, showing prog- 
ress of events and negotiations, 
163^.; Cassini thinks he has mis- 
interpreted the Tsar, 164; con- 
gratulated by Kaiser, 164; should 
the conference be held at Wash- 
ington or The Hague?, 166, 167, 
168, 169; straightforwardness con- 
trary to the habit of the bureau- 
cracy, 167, 168; on Nelidow as a 
possible plenipotentiary, 169, 170; 
on his wedding day, i71; on the 
mutinies at Odessa and Libau, 
171, 172, 176, 177; on John Hay's 
death and character, 172, 173; on 
the prevarications, etc., of the 
Russian Foreign Office, 173, 174; 
on the suggestion of an armistice, 
175; on Mouravieff, 175, 176, 182, 
183; on Lamsdorff, 178; on Lams- 
dorff's commwiiqn^, 180; on the 
Tsar's promise of reforms, 178; 
on the Sakhaline question, 179, 
181, 199, 200, 202, 203, 204, 206; 



appointment of Witte as first 
plenipotentiary, 180; impression of 
Witte, 181; effect in Russia of 
Witte's appointment, 182, 184; 
conversation with Witte, 182; on 
the insurance scandals in U. S., 
183, 265; Hay's opinion of his 
work in Russia, 184; on the con- 
dition of the Russian fleet, 184; 
on the conference between Tsar 
and Kaiser at Bjorke, 185 and n., 
186, 188, 191; on the reasons for 
peace, 186; on the separation of 
Norway and Sweden, 186, 195; on 
the Moscow Congress, 187; on the 
war party in Russia, 189, 190; on 
proposed commercial agreement 
between Russia and U. S., 190; ou 
Witte's reception in America, 
192, 193, 196, 202; the Tsar's de- 
cision to grant a national assem- 
bly, 192, 193; on the prospects 
of peace, 194; on the significance 
of the grant of a national assem- 
bly, 195, and its reception in St. 
Petersburg, 196; his face-to-face 
dealings with the Tsar, on the con- 
clusion of peace at Portsmouth, 
196 f.; his part in the matter, 
an indispensable element in its 
success, 197; his suspicions of 
bureaucratic methods, 198; audi- 
ence with the Tsar (August 23, 
1905), 198-201; on the Tsar's pri- 
vate correspondence with the 
Kaiser, 199, 202, 203, 212, 253; on 
feeling in Russia as to pa\aiient of 
indemnity, 201, 204; "financial 
question, chief obstacle to peace, 
204, 205, 206; on the conclusion 
of peace, 205; on Russian ingrati- 
tude, 206; on the terms of peace, 
and his share in obtaining them, 
206, 207; feeling in Russia as to 
peace, 208, 210; complimented by 
Stead for his part in negotiations, 
209; on Robert Bacon, 210; his 
work in caring for Japanese pris- 
oners of war, 211; interviews with 
Kaiser at Homburg, 211-218 com- 
plimented by Kaiser, 212, 213, and 
his wife, 214; on Delcasse, 216, 
217; on the jealousy between 
Kaiser and Edward VH, 217, 



INDEX 



537 



218; on the Kaiser's grasp of 
world-affairs, 218, 219; reports to 
Roosevelt, 219, 220, who wishes to 
have him in his Cabinet, 220; was 
he qualified to be Sec'y of the 
Treasury?, 220; on methods of 
improving efficiency of U. S. 
diplomatic corps, 220, 221; marks 
of appreciation of his work in 
Russia, 221; urged by Roosevelt 
to return at once to Russia, 221, 
222; walking with Roosevelt, 222; 
returns to Russia, 223 f.; inter- 
view with Lansdowne, 223, 224; 
interview with Rouvier, 224; 
Grand Duchess Vladimir in Paris, 
225; interview with von Biilow, 
226-228; on the needs of Russia, 
227; dines with Kaiser at Pots- 
dam, 228-230; on Germany and 
Great Britain, 229, 230; on the 
commercial treaty between Russia 
and U. S., 229; on the aims of 
the Socialist and Labor Unions 
in Russia, 231, 233, 234, 235, 237, 
238; on the financial situation of 
the government, 231, 232; on 
Witte's good qualities and de- 
fects, 232; on the resemblance be- 
tween events in France in 1789 
and those in Russia in 1905, 233, 
234; on the persistence of faith 
in the Tsar, 234; on army and 
navy troubles, 234; Tsar's manner 
of life at Tsarskoe Sel6, 235, 241; 
shooting at Tosno, 285; Russia 
" an extraordinary country," 236 ; 
the "hooligan stories," 237; on the 
participation of Jews in revolu- 
tionary outbreaks, 239; on the 
Duma as a universal panacea, 240; 
on the Tsar's autocratic power, 
240; on the preliminaries of the 
Algeciras Ck»nference, 243, 244; at 
reception of Diplomatic Corps at 
Tsarskoe Sel6, 244-246, 247; con- 
versation with Tsar, 244, and 
Tsarina, 245; impression of the 
latter, 245; Tsarina and Tsarevich, 
245; on probable demands of 
Kaiser at Algeciras, 245, 246; 
bear-hunting, 248-251; at the 
Yukki Club, 251, 252, 261, 825; 
audience with Grand Duke Con- 



stantine, 252, 253; official dinner 
at Austrian Embassy, 254, 265; 
on Russia's interest in outcome of 
Algeciras, 255, 264, 265; on the 
ignorance of the American Am- 
bassador, 255, 256; on the pros- 
pect of the meeting of the Duma, 
256; on Countess Witte, 257, 258; 
on diplomatic service of the U. S., 
258; on Andrew D. White, 258, 
259; on the American Embassy as 
a " palace," 259 ; attends regular 
mass at Tsarskoe Sel6, 259-261; 
on France and Germany at Al- 
geciras, 262, 263; on Roosevelt as 
arbiter if Algeciras Conference 
comes to a deadlock, 264; on cam- 
paign funds in national elections, 
265; on prospects at Algeciras, 
265, 266; on lack of interest of 
workingmen in elections for 
Duma, 266, 267; victory of Ca- 
dets in elections in St. Petersburg, 
268; close of Algeciras Confer- 
ence, 269; his Atlantic article on 
"Our Inelastic Currency," 270; 
attends midnight (Easter) mass 
at St. Isaac's, 270, 271; Easter in 
St. Petersburg, 271; the Duma in 
the palace of the Tauride Garden, 
273; on the evil influence of the 
Times correspondent at St. Peters- 
burg, 274; and General TrepofF, 
275; uncertainty as to action of 
Duma, 277; at opening of Duma 
(May, 1906), 278-281; impres- 
sions of the members, 279, 280, 
285; on the Tsar's address, 281, 
285; on the aims of the peasants, 
281; can a conflict between Crown 
and Duma be avoided?, 281; the 
Cadets and the Tsar, 281, 282, 
298; at first session of Council 
of Empire, 282; a great awaken- 
ing in Russia, 282; amnesty of 
political prisoners, 288, 284, 287, 
288, 289; on the control of the 
Duma by the Cadets, 285, 286; on 
the address in reply to speech 
from the throne, 286, 287; atti- 
tude of Duma makes a crisis 
likely, 287; is pessimistic as to 
the future, 287, 288; on the Duma 
and the denial of amnesty and 



538 



INDEX 



expropriation, 288, 289; entertains 
Mr. and Mrs. Bryan, 289, 290, 
291; impression of Iswolsky, 292; 
investigates massacre of Jews at 
Byalostok, 292-294, 296; on Ger- 
many's interest in checking revo- 
lution in Russia, 294, 295; on Rus- 
sian incapacity as seamen, 295; 
" slated '' for Roosevelt's Cabinet, 
296; on the aim of the peasants 
in their burning, etc., 296, 297; 
the only thing impossible in Rus- 
sia, 297; on lack of leaders, 297; 
on the circular of the peasants' 
union, 297, 298; salmon-fishing at 
Imatra, 299; the Duma dismissed, 
and why, 300; Cadets and the 
Duma, 300; will the Tsar decree 
equality of all persons before the 
law?, 302; improved conditions, 
303; on passports for ambassa- 
dors, 304; takes cure at Kissin- 
gen, 304-308; Roosevelt on his 
work in Russia, 304, 305; and 
Prince Christian, 305, 306; writes 
Roosevelt on entering Cabinet, 
306; on the attempt to murder 
Stolypin, 306; on the character of 
the great mass of Russians, 306, 
307; on the blindness of the revo- 
lutionists, 307, and of the Tsar, 
308; improved conditions in St. 
Petersburg, 309; visits Grand 
Duke Vladimir at Narva, 310, 311; 
hunting at Narva, 311-313; the 
peasants' dance, 312, 313; visit to 
Antoniny (VoUiynia), 313 f.; 
his trip to Odessa, 315-319, Se- 
bastopol, 319, 320, and Moscow, 
820, 321; the battlefield of Bala- 
clava, 320; the Tsar's palace at 
Livadia, 320; liomb-throwing at St. 
Petersburg, 322; his appointment 
to the Cabinet as Postmaster Gen- 
eral announced, 322; on that office 
as compared with that of Sec'y 
of Navy, 323; scandal in the (Rus- 
sian) Cabinet, 324; hunting with 
Prince Youssoupoff, 325-327; on 
Roosevelt's " Gouverneur Morris," 
in the light of events in Russia, 
327, 328; reception to Diplomatic 
Corps at Tsarskoe Sel6, 328; on 
the change in the Tsarina, 328, 



329; his last days in St. Peters- 
burg, 329 f.; his final audience 
with the Tsar, 331, 332; Tsar re- 
grets his departure, 332; Tsar 
confers Grand Cordon of St. 
Alexander Nevsky on, 338; final 
interview with Iswolsky, 333-335; 
leaves Russia, 335; presentation 
to, with list of donors, 335 and n.; 
his sensations on leaving, 336; on 
his way home has interviews with 
Kaiser, 338-341; with the King 
of Italy, 841-344, with Sir Edward 
Grey, 344-846, and with Edward 
VII, 348-350; on America's policy 
not to form alliances, 850; returns 
to U. S., 351. 

V. Postmaster General. — His 
new duties contrasted with those 
of an ambassador, 352; his earlier 
experience good preparation for 
his new work, 353; his first con- 
ference with Roosevelt, 354; takes 
over the Department, 354; his first 
Cabinet meeting, 854; his resi- 
dences in Washington, 354; Taft 
quoted on his chief characteristic 
as an administrator, 355; suggests 
change in title of office, 355; 371, 
372 and n.: receives Order of the 
Rising Sun from the Mikado, and 
the Grand Cordon of SS. Mau- 
rizio e Lazzaro from the King of 
Ital_r, 356; his constant regard to 
physical fitness, 357; and Roose- 
veft's "stunts," 357, 376, 381, 384; 
induces Roosevelt to promise not 
to commit himself against pos- 
sible return to presidency after 
interregnum, 358; entertains Duke 
of the Abruzzi, 358-362; confer- 
ences at Oyster Bay as to prepa- 
rations in case of war with Japan, 
362, 363, 365, 366; encouraging 
words from Roosevelt, 363; Taft's 
nomination in 1908 being pre- 
pared for in 1907, 365; his pro- 
gramme of improvement in postal 
matters, 366, 367; his most im- 
portant achievement, the estab- 
lishment of postal savings-banks, 
368; his work to that end, 368, 
369; his methods of daily work in 
the Dep't, 869; his treatment of 



INDEX 



539 



his subordinates, 369, 370; on the 
political situation in autumn of 
1907, 373; on Hughes and Cortel- 
you as candidates, and the pos- 
sible demand for Roosevelt, 373; 
rumours of his appointment to 
German Ambassadorship, 374, 
386; discussion of Roosevelt's let- 
ter to Cortelyou on methods of 
relieving financial situation, 375, 
376; on Cannon's ojiposition to 
postal savings-banks. 376; possi- 
bility of war with Japan, 377; 
his order relating to letters ad- 
dressed to Santa Claus, 378, 379; 
advises Roosevelt to issue state- 
ment announcing that he is not a 
candidate for renomination, 379, 
380; discouraging business outlook 
in Dec, 1907, 380; talk with 
Roosevelt Cabinet candidates for 
nomination, 381; on political con- 
ditions in N. Y., and the possibil- 
ity of a bolt to Roosevelt, 385; 
on keeping anarchistic papers 
from the mails, 385, 386; works 
up sentiment in favor of his re- 
forms in the Dep't, 386, 387; 
chairman of Republican State 
Convention in Mass., 387, 388; en- 
dorsed by the platform of the 
Convention, 388; on Taft's pro- 
posed trip to Panama, 389; on 
diplomatic uniforms, 389, 390; on 
Cannon's influence on Congres- 
sional lukewarmness toward ad- 
ministration, 390; announces adop- 
tion of 2-cent letter postage to 
Great Britain, 391, 392; rumours 
that he is to " run " Taft's cam- 
paign, 392, 393, 399; his objec- 
tions, 393, 394; going over the 
Republican platform, 394; writes 
Mrs. Meyer (1908) on experi- 
ments with torpedoes, 395, 396; 
signs parcel-post convention with 
Italy, 397; obtains endorsement 
of postal savings-banks by Re- 
publican Convention, 397; on 
Taft's nomination, 398; on his 
50th birthday, 398; urges Taft to 
take exercise as a counter-irritant, 
399; advises Roosevelt as to au- 
diences with King of Italy and 



Pope, 401, 411; consulted as to 
correspondence with Bryan and 
Gov. Haskell, 403, 404, 405, 406; 
letter of J. Henniker Heaton on 
2-cent postage, 407; its establish- 
ment an event of outstanding sig- 
nificance, 408; instructions to 
postmasters to consult authorities 
as to teaching elementary postal 
matters, 408, 409; forecast of the 
election (1908), 410; makes 
speeches in campaign, 412; and 
the Secretaryship of the Treasury, 
412; his second annual report, 
413; recommends putting 4th 
class postmasters in certain states 
on civil-service list, 413; chosen 
by Taft for Sec'y of Navy, 413, 
414, 418; gives dinner to Count 
and Countess Bernstorff, 415; 
"both very attractive," 415; ad- 
dress at Bankers' Dinner, 416; 
parcel post on rural routes, 418; 
asked by Taft to make Winthrop 
Ass't Sec'y, 418; his relations with 
Fore River Engine Co., 419; on 
Roosevelt's achievement as Presi- 
dent, 419; the "Tennis Cabinet" 
entertained by Roosevelt and by 
Mrs. Garfield, 420; Roosevelt's 
final Cabinet meeting, 420, 421; 
general result of the two years 
in the P. O. Dep't, 421. 

VI. Secretary of the Navy. — 
Nature of his task, 422, 423; 
learning the job, 424; Taft's 
inauguration, 425, 426; his im- 
pression of Wickersham, 427; 
troubles in Central America, 427, 
428, 429; visit to Roosevelt, 428, 
429; his speech at Harvard Club 
dinner to Pres. Eliot, 430, 431; 
reorganization of navy yards, 
Newberrv's plan and Meyer's, 
432, 434,' 438, 453, 454, 463, 468, 
469; his plan for withdrawing re- 
tired officers from active service, 
434; consulted by Taft as to in- 
come tax on corporations, 434, 
435; at Harvard Commencement, 
1909, 435, 436; plan for board of 
military experts, etc., 436; unim- 
pressed by tariff debate in Senate, 
436, 437; writes Roosevelt on his 



^40 



INDEX 



1 



work in the Dep't, 437, 438; on 
Taft's corporation tax proposal, 
438; on the naval estimates for 
1911, 439, 441; discussion with 
Senator Hale, 439; on the Wrights' 
experiments in aviation, 440, 444; 
Cabinet discussion on tariff and 
free list, 442; tells Taft the peo- 
ple are with him in his tariff 
policy, 443; Taft and the Confer- 
ence Committe on the Tariff bill, 
443, 444; sides with Ballinger 
against Pinchot in their contro- 
versy, 445; close of the diary, 445, 
446; "Salient Points" in his ad- 
ministration of the Navy Dep't, 
446-450; Taft's laudatory com- 
ment thereon, 450, 451; his state- 
ment of principles for changes in 
administration of the Dep't, 451; 
opposition to his changes, espe- 
cially after Democratic victory in 
the House in 1910, 452; his first 
Annual Report, quoted, on the 
Secretary's need of advice from 
experts, 452, 453; the Swift Board, 
453, 467; lessons of the Russo- 
Japanese War, 454; change in 
method of cost-accounting, 454, 
455; divides work of Navy into 
four essential parts, 456; 468, 
469; creates "something like a 
General Staff for the Navy," 456, 
457; Engineering 2Iagazine'q\io\.ed, 
on his organization of the Dep't, 
457; competent naval opinion that 
it was an agency of supreme value 
in the world-war, 458; Admiral 
Sims, quoted, on his administra- 
tion, 458, 459; Admiral Sims 
reprimanded, through him, 458 «.; 
his pleasant association with naval 
officers, 459 ;f.; and Admiral 
I.eutze, 460, 461; proposed aboli- 
tion of Pensacola and New Or- 
leans Navj^ Yardj 463, 464; on 
Cook and Peary, 464, 465; on gov- 
ernment jurisdiction over rail- 
roads, 464, 465; on Roosevelt's 
African trip, 465; fighting for two 
battleships, 466; 470; fight over re- 
organization, 466 f.; leading oppo- 
nents of his plan, 469; his interest 



in his work, 470; Japan asks per- 
mission to study system of cost-ac- 
counting, 470; plan of reorganiza- 
tion approved by Sir A. Wilson, 
470 ; postal savings-bank bill 
passed by Senate, 470; his visit 
of inspection to both coasts and 
to Cuba, 471-481; at Bremerton 
Navy Yard, 471, 472; on the ap- j 
prehension on Pacific coast of at- j 
tack by Japan, 472; on the canvass j 
for U. S. Senator in California, 
473; movement to demand battle- 
snip fleet on Pacific coast, 473, 
474; his answer, 474; at Mare 
Island Navy Yard, 474; Goat 
Island and Hunters' Point, 475; 
at Los Angeles, 475, 476; San 
Diego, 476, 477; Havana, 478, 479; 
Santiago, 480, 481; Guantanamo, 
481; visits England for naval pur- 
poses, 481^.; his report, 482; on 
Taft's strength with the people, 
482; on the relations between rail- 
roads and the services in Ger- 
many, 482; could the same idea be 
acted upon in U. S.?, 482, 483; 
on J. P. Morgan's collection, 484; 
meets Lords of the Admiralty, 
484; hears debate on Parliament 
bill in Lords, 485; difficulty of his 
position in the Roosevelt-Taft con- 
troversy in 1912, 487; is opposed 
to Roosevelt's candidacy, but of- 
fers to resign and support him, 
if he desires to run, 487; eventu- 
ally supports Taft, 487; on Taft's 
letter of acceptance, 488; on 
Taft's title to the nomination, 
488; how he survived the disaster, 
489; various opinions of his ad- 
ministration — Bishop Lawrence 
and Admiral Wainwright — 490, 
491; receives a parting gift from 
naval officers, 491, 492. 

VII. The Final Years.— A tj-pi- 
cal figure of his period, 494; re- 
sumes business and social activi- 
tites, 494, 495; his final meeting 
with the Kaiser on the Hohen- 
zollern in 1913, 495-502; "the 
American von Tirpitz," 496 and 
«.; on the signs of prosperity in 



INDEX 



541 



Germany, 497; on the "so-called 
Jeffersonian simplicity of the 
Democratic party," 498; on the 
feeling between Germany and 
Great Britaian, 498, 499, 600; is 
shown the Kaiser's maps of the 
Balkan War, 502; conversation 
with von Falkenhayn and von 
Moltke, on possible intervention 
of U. S. in Mexico and on the 
Panama Canal, 503; did the 
Kaiser visit Paris incog.?, 503; 
experiences in Germany in July, 
1914, as related by Mrs. Meyer, 
504-510; his call upon von Jagow, 
504, and its fortunate sequel, 509; 
he and Mrs. Meyer finally reach 
Holland, 510; his letter to Bryan 
on the probable role to be played 
by the U. S., and offering his serv- 
ices, 510, 511; approves Wilson's 
policy of strict neutrality, 511; 
otherwise wholly out of sympathy 
with the administration, 511; cen- 
sures lack of " preparedness," and 
favours enlarged programme of 
national defense, 511; especially 
concerned about the Na^y, 512; his 
appeals to the public in periodi- 
cals, 512; promotes National 
Security League, etc., 512; pleads 
for necessity of preparing young 
men for the Na\y as well as for 
the Army, 513; favours nomina- 
tion of Roosevelt in 1916, and 
works to that end, 513, 514, 515; 
favours unpledged delegation from 
Mass., 514; accepts leadership in 
movement to spring Roosevelt's 
candidacy in case of Hughes' 
declination, 515; carries the fight 
to Chicago, 515; his part in the 
undertaking characterized, 515; 
supplies Hughes with campaign 
material relating to the Navy, 516; 
defeat of Hughes a bitter disap- 
pointment, 516; his last appear- 
ance in public, 517; his domestic 
life singularly happy, 517; mar- 
riages of his children, 517, 618; 
his last illness and death, 618, 519; 
Roosevelt's tribute, 519, 
Letters— to W. J. Bryan, 510; 



Josephus Daniels, 490; Mr. C. A. 
Goss, 489; H. C. Lodge, 119, 127, 
129, 231, 255, 277; F. C. Lowell, 
258; Alice Meyer, 259; Julia 
Meyer, 254; Mrs. Meyer, 147, 202, 
206, 233, 235, 244, 248, 310, 315, 
325, 327, 328, 329, 395, 477, 484; 
William H. Taft, 464, 473, 482, 
488; Theodore Roosevelt, 111, 116, 
121, 124, 125, 145, 149, 154, 157, 
167, 173, 178, 181, 187, 192, 197, 
203, 209, 233, 246, 263, 285, 306, 
371, 437, 462, 465; Elihu Root, 238; 
Erving Winslow, 511. 

Meyer, George von L., Jr. (" Bey"), 
M.'s son, in service during the 
war, 517; marries Miss Saltonstall, 
517; 13, 21, 22, 67, 135, 187, 299, 
363, 396, 472. 

Meyer, Mrs. Grace Helen (Parker), 
M.'s mother, 4, 13. 

Meyer, Heinrich E. L., M.'s great- 
grandfather, 4. 

Meyer, Heloise, M.'s sister, 30, 32, 
53, 69. 

Meyer, Mrs. Johanna C. (von 
Lengerke), M.'s grandmother, 3, 
4. 

Meyer, Julia, marries Giuseppe 
Brambilla, 518; 13, 51, 76, 77, 78, 
98, 129, 135, 151, 152, 221, 222, 261, 
277, 288, 295, 300, 301, 359, 388, 
417, 426, 437, 472, 497. Letter of 
M. to, 254. And see Brambilla, 
Julia (Meyer). 

Meyer, Marian Alice (Appleton), 
M.'s wife, letter of, on the royal 
ball at Berlin, 85 n; letter of, 
to M., 97-100; on events of 
July, 1914, in Germany, 504- 
510; letter of Roosevelt to, on 
.M.'s death, 519; 12, 13, 31, 32, 44, 
45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 53, 55, 60, 62, 
67, 68, 69, 71, 72, 76, 77, 78, 82, 
83, 84, 85, 88, 96, 100, 129, 132, 
133, 134, 135, 136, 151, 162, 173, 
187, 218, 261, 267, 277, 283, 288, 
295, 296, 332, 341, 359, 383, 398, 
417, 420, 421, 424, 426, 428, 437, 
470, 497, 604, 517. Letters of M. 
to, 147, 202, 206, 235, 237, 244, 
248, 310, 325, 327, 828, 329, 392, 
395, 398, 471, 477, 484, 486, 616. 



542 



INDEX 



Meyer, Thomas, letter of M. to, 140. 

Meyer Gate, The (Harvard), 7. 

Michel, Grand Diike, 61, 142, 143, 
152, 187, 212, 213, 272, 335. 

Michel Alexander, Grand Duke, 185. 

Mikado, of Japan, confers decora- 
tion on M., 356; 154. 

Miles, Basil, 273 and n., 303, 

Minghetti, Donna Laura, 226. 

Mirabeau, Gabriel H. R., Comte de, 
234. 

Mistchiskv estate, 297. 

Mitchell, John, 272. 

Modern Decorative Art, Interna- 
tional Exposition of, at Turin, 53, 
54. 

Mohammed Ali, Shah of Persia, 
visits Rome, 55-57; his character, 
67. 

Moltke, Count Bernhard von (the 
Great von M.), 503. 

Moltke, Count von, nephew of Coimt 
Bernhard, 123, 497, 500, 501, 502. 

Monaco, Prince of, 61. 

Monroe Doctrine, no stronger than 
the Na\y, 451; 371. 

Monte Casino Monasterj^ 88, 89. 

Montebello, Duke of, 148. 

Montenegro, Victor Emmanuel III 
on affairs of, 343. 

Monteondi, Signor, 80. 

Montichiari, Dr., 81. 

Monts, Count of, 70. 

Moody, William H., appointed 
Sec'y of Na\y, 27, and Justice of 
Supreme Court, 324; 51, 95, 220, 
323. 

Moody Commission (Navy), 467. 

Moran, John B., 258 and 7i. 

Morgan, Edward M., 366. 

Morgan, J. Pierpont, his collection 
in London, 484; 63. 

Morgan, Miss, 62. 

Morin, Admiral, 69, 73. 

Morocco, dispute between Germany 
and France over, 216, 217. And 
see Algeciras Conference. 

Morris, Gouverneur, 327, 328. 

Morton, Paul, 94. 

Moscow, disturbances in, 210, 236, 
237, 238; their object, 238, 239; 
conditions becoming normal, 242; 
revolutionary })lot discovered at, 
252; Maurice Baring on affairs 



in, 266, 267; elections for Duma 
in, 266, 267; M.'s visit to, 320, 
321. 

Moscow Congress, 187. 

Motono, Mr., arrival in St. Peters- 
burg, 266; dinner given by Lams- 
dorflF to, 267. 

Mott, Captain, 189. 

Mount Stephen, Lord, 4. 

Mount Vernon, visit to, 358, 359. 

MouraWetr, M., 172, 179, 180, 181,j 
182, 183. 

Mowbray, H. Siddons, 82, 83. 

Mowbray, Walter, 91. 

Mugwump sentiment in Boston, 19. 

Muller, Admiral, 496, 497. 

Munsej^, Frank A., 488. 

Muromtseff, M., candidate of Ca- 
dets for President of Duma, 277; 
President-elect, and the Tsar, 283; 
choice of, a happy omen, 286. 

Murphy, Franklin, 92. 

Myopia Hunt Club, 13, 14, 15. 

Nagel, Charles, 429. 

Napier, Henry D., 323. 

Napier, Mrs. H. D., 323. 

Naples, M.'s arrival at, 32; M. 
poisoned by eating fish at, 32; 
M. dines with Kaiser at, 88. 

Napoleon I, 340. 

Narva, hunting at, 311-313. 

Nasha Jizn, quoted, 154. 

National Allied Relief Committee, 
512. 

National Assembly (Russia). See 
Duma. 

National Marine Engineers' Asso- 
ciation, 470. 

National Security League, 512. 

Navy of the U. S., report of Gen- 
eral Staff as to disposition of, in 
case of war with Japan, 362; de- 
sertions from, 417; much respected 
in South America, 427; relations 
of officers of, with M., 461 ; gift of 
officers of, to M. on liis retire- 
ment from the Dep't, 491, 492. 

Navy Department of the U. S., fre- 
quent changes in head of, during 
Roosevelt's administration, 422; 
conditions in when M. Ijecame 
Secretary, 423; problems of, com- 
pared with those of P. O. Dep't, 



! 



INDEX 



543 



423; estimates for, in 1911, 439, 
440, 441 ; " Salient Points " in M.'s 
administration of, 446-450, and 
Taft's comment thereon, 450, 451; 
M.'s statement of tiie general prin- 
ciples which his changes were de- 
signed to embody, 451; opposition 
to M.'s changes, 452 ^.; general 
naval policy under M.'s adminis- 
tration, 455; system in vogue in, 
during Civil War, and Spanish 
War, 455; work of, divided into 
four essential parts, 456, 457, 468; 
general result of M.'s new arrange- 
ments, 457; Engineering Magazine, 
quoted, on M.'s administration, 
457; changes in organization be- 
tween 1913 and 1917, 458; Ad- 
miral Sims quoted, on M.'s ad- 
ministration, 458, 459; M.'s fight 
with Naval Committee over reor- 
ganization, 466 f.; his plan ap- 
proved by Sir A. Wilson, 470; 
Annual Report for 1911, 481, 482; 
various opinions of M.'s work in, 
490, 491; M.'s criticisms of man- 
agement of, in the late war, 512, 
518. And see Cost-accounting, 
Na\y yards. 

Navy League, 512. 

Navy yards, consolidation of, 482, 
483; M.'s plan for reorganization 
of, 434, 453/7.; failure of New- 
berry's policy concerning, 438; 
Newberry's policy and M.'s com- 
pared, 463. 

Nebogatofi", Admiral, 184. 

Necker, Jacques, 234. 

Negro, the, future of, 391; Roose- 
velt on, 391, 392; in Tennessee, 
and colored juries, 429. 

Nelidow, M. de, 47, 70, 76, 77, 169, 
170, 172, 268, 342. 

Nelidow, Mme. de, 49, 71. 

Nerod, Count, 249. 

Neva, blessing of the waters of, ru- 
mours concerning celebration of, 
235. 

New Willard Hotel, 219. 

New York Citv, Tsarina on high 
buildings in, 232. 

New York Herald, 479. 

New York Shipbuilding Co., 469. 



New York State, political conditions 
in, 385 ; " reactionists " in, 385 ; at- 
titude on the tariff, 443. 

New York Times, 512. 

Newberry, Truman H., his policy 
concerning work in navy yards, 
438, 453, 454, 463, 468; 423, 482. 

Newport News Shipbuilding Co., 
469. 

Nevada, discrimination against Ja- 
panese in, 416. 

Niblack, A. P., U. S. N., 496 «. 

Nicaragua, and San Salvador, 427. 

Nicolas II, Tsar, decorates Ad- 
miral Rodjestvensky for Dogger 
Bank atfair, 104, 'l05; and the 
workingmen's petition, 115, 116; 
his lost opportunit}', 116, 117; has 
no fixed policy, 124; Queen Mar- 
gherita on, 133; decKnes Kaiser's 
good offices, 134; his blindness, 
134; M.'s first audience with and 
impression of, 142, 145; reaction- 
aries seem to have his ear, 144; 
M. offers good offices of U. S. to, 
145, 146; alleged influence of 
Tsarina over, 145, 146, 349; his 
ukase granting religious freedom 
to all except Jews, 149; his pro- 
crastination, 153, 156; influenced 
by Pobodonostzeff not to sign 
manifesto announcing speedy con- 
vocation of freely elected assem- 
bly, 155; M. delivers Roosevelt's 
message to, suggesting that Rus- 
sia and Japan meet to arrange 
terms of peace, 158, 159; accepts, 
on conditions, 160, 161; his mes- 
sage to Roosevelt, 162; and the 
bureaucracy, 173, 174; his ad- 
dress to Committee of 14 emas- 
culated by press, 174; his position 
considered, 174; his intentions hon- 
est and well-meant, 174; appoints 
special delegates to peace confer- 
ence, 176; really desires peace, 
178; promises reforms, but is 
blocked by bureaucracy, 178; his 
edict concerning the Navy, 180, 
181; interview with Kaiser (1905), 
185 and n., 188, 191; favours re- 
forms and a national assembly, 
187; promises more land to the 



544 



INDEX 



peasants, 187; signs constitution, 
191; decides to grant national as- 
sembly, 192, 193; declares Japan 
trying to humiliate Russia, 195; 
announces plan for national as- 
sembly, 195; M.'s interview with 
on peace terms, 197 f., 204, 206, 
207; his private correspondence 
with Kaiser, 199, 202, 203; quoted, 
on Japan's claims, 200; how the 
Kaiser prepared his mind for 
peace, 212, 213; Roosevelt's mes- 
sage to, 223; his ukase concerning 
division of crown lands and the 
Socialists, 225; his attitude toward 
affairs, 226; fails to appreciate 
the gravity of conditions, 229; 
continued faith of people in, 234; 
possibilities of his autocratic 
power in strong hands, 240, 241; 
receives Diplomatic Corps at 
Tsarskoe Sel5, 244-246, 247; con- 
versation with M., 244, 245, 247; 
accepts Witte's resignation, 276; 
at the opening of the Duma, 279- 
281 ; his address from the throne, 
280, 281, 285; and President 
Muromtseff, 283; and the question 
of amnesty, 283; refuses to re- 
ceive delegation with reply to ad- 
dress from the throne, 284; dis- 
solves first Duma, and summons 
second, 300; reported to be about 
to decree equality of all persons 
before the law, 302; M.'s opinion 
of, 305; suppose the peasants lose 
their faith in him?, 307; fails to 
realize the situation, 308; and 
Grand Duke Paul, 308; his palace 
at Livadia, 320; receives Diplo- 
matic Corps, 328; M.'s final audi- 
ence with, 331, 332; confers deco- 
ration on M., 333; Victor Em- 
manuel Ill's opinion of, 342; 76, 
77, 86, 100, 120, 135, 138, 140, 143, 
151, 154, 163, 164, 166, 167, 168, 
169, 179, 182, 183, 186, 189, 190, 
196, 209, 216, 220, 232, 233, 235, 
239, 242, 243, 254, 260, 261, 262, 
263, 264, 269, 277, 282, 287, 292, 
297, 298, 324, 330, 333, 336, 338, 
339, 340, 389, 498. 
Nicolas, Grand Duke, 349. 



Nicolas Michailovitch, Grand Duke, 
260. - 

Nicolas Nicolai^vitch, Grand Duke, 
260, 269. 

Nicolson, Sir A., and the Byalostok 
massacres, 293, 294, 296; M. on, 
350; 289, 298, 299, 303, 309, 
500. 

Nicolson, Lady, 289, 303, 309, 322. 

Nieroth, Count, 271, 295, 335 m. 

Nieroth, Countess, 295, 335 n. 

Ninth Ward Republican Committee, 
19. 

Nisard, M., 90. 

Nixon, Lewis, 470. 

Noble, George W. C, 5. 

North American Review, 512. 

North Pole, discovery of, 464, 
465. 

Norton, Richard, 46, 64. 

Norway, and Sweden, probable dis- 
solution of union of, 186; votes 
in favor of separation, 195. 

Novoe Vremya (St. Petersburg), 
charges secret alliance between 
Japan and U. S., 183. 

Obolensky, Prince, 267. 

O'Connell, Monsignor (now Cardi- 
nal), 40. 

O'Connor, T. P., 486. 

Odell, Benjamin B., 91. 

Odessa, mutiny at, 171, 173, 176, 
177, 178, 180; Jews in, 316; con- 
ditions in, 316, 317, 318. 

Oetingen, Princess, 337. 

Ohio, in election of 1908, 410. 

Ohyama, Mr., 118. 

Old Colony Trust Co., 12. 

Olney, Richard, 95. 

Open Door, policy of the, 109, 113, 
335. 

OrlofF, E., 335 n. 

OrlofT, Prince Ivan, 271, 335 71. 

Orloff, Princess Olga, 248, 275, 295, 
335 «,. 

Orloff, S., 276, 335 n. 

Orloff-Davidoff, Countess, 274, 275. 

Orloff estates, destroyed, 297. 

Osten-Sacken, Count, Kaiser's talk 
with, 86. 

Otto, Chasseur, 288, 248, 249, 250. 



INDEX 



545 



Ouroussow, Prince, supersedes Neli- 
dow at Rome, 77; 81, 118, 170. 

Outlook, The, Roosevelt agrees to 
write for, on public questions, 401. 
401. 

Pacific Coast, M.'s visit to, 471-477; 
demand for battleship fleet, 473- 
474; M.'s answer to that demand, 
474, 475. 

Paget, Lord, 485. 

Palmer, Leigh C, U. S. N., 408 
and n. 

Panama, Republic of, treaty with, 
414; 79, 373. 

Panama bonds, proposed issue of, to 
relieve financial situation, 375,376. 

Panama Canal, and Japan, 339; to 
remain a lock canal, 418; and 
Guantanamo, 481; 89, 371, 503. 

Paravicini, M., 301. 

Parcel-post system, proposed exten- 
sion of, 366, 375; convention with 
Italy concerning, 397; report pro- 
viding for trial of, on R. F. D. 
routes, 418; 386, 393, 396. 

Paris, Countess of, 102, 103. 

Paris, M.'s visit to (1905), 224, 225; 
in the Reign of Terror and in 
1871, 327, 328; did the Kaiser go 
there incog J, 603; von Moltke on 
the siege of (1870-71), 503. 

Paris Exposition Managers (Mass.), 
26. 

Parker, Alton B., 105. 

Parker, Samuel, M.'s maternal great- 
grandfather, 4, 5. 

Parker, William, M.'s maternal 
grandfather, 4. 

Pasetti, Baron, 47, 49, 66, 70, 81. 

Pasetti, Baroness, 49 and n. 

Paterson, N. J., meeting of an- 
archists at, 44; transmission of 
Socialist publication by mail pro- 
hibited, 385, 386. 

Patricia, Princess, of Connaught, 
217. 

Paul, Tsar, 277. 

Paul, Grand Duchess, 308, 309. 

Paul, Grand Duke, 308, 309. 

Pauncefote, Sir Julian (Lord), 44. 

Paimcefote, Lady, 44. 

Payne, Henry C, 432. 



Payne, Sereno E., 92. 
Payne-Aldrich Tariff Act. See Dis- 
criminatory duties, Tariff Act of 

1909. 
Parker, Sir Gilbert, 486. 
Peabody, Endicott, 382, 417. 
Peabody, Mrs. Endicott, 417. 
Peary, Robert E., and Dr. Cook, 

464, 465. 
Peasants, Russian, outbreaks of, 

296; expect to force division of 

land, 297; mistaken method of 

governing them, 297; their faith 

in the Tsar, 307. 
Peasants' Union, circular issued by, 

297, 298. 
Peck, George, 92. 
Pembroke, Earl of, 44. 
Penny postage. See Foreign letter 

postage. 
Penrose, Boies, 27. 
Perez, Admiral (Chile), 464. 
Perkins, George C, 473. 
Perkins, George W., 412. 
Persia, Shah of. See Mohammed 

Ali. 
Peter the Great, 301. 
Peter Nicolaievitch, Grand Duchess 

(Princes Melitza of Montenegro), 

342 and n., 349. 
Peter Nicolaievitch, Grand Duke, 

342 ». 
Peter and Paul, Saints, 296. 
Peterhof, 301, 302. 
Peters, Richard, 94. 
Philippe, French spiritualist, 342 

and n. 
Philippine Islands, Archbishop 

Chappelle on, 40, 41, 42; the "key 

to the Orient," 41; MacArthur's 

report on, 42, 43; and Japan, 339, 

340. 
Phillips, William, 388, 
Pichon, M., quoted, 323. 
Piedmont, Prince of, birth of, and 

its consequence, 100; 107. 
Pierre Nicolaievitch, Grand Duchess, 

260. 
Pierre Nicolaidvitch, Grand Duke, 

260. 
Piles, Samuel H., 471. 
Pillsbury, John E., U. S. N., 464. 
Pinchot, Gifford, his controversy 



546 



INDEX 



with Sec'y Ballinger, M.'s view of, 
445; 222,' 420. 

Piiichot, Mrs. GiflFord, 420. 

Pinola Shoals, 474, 475. 

Pio, Prince of Savoy, 144. 

Pisano, I.a, meet of hounds at, 83. 

Pius X, M.'s audience with, 135; 80, 
107, 401. 

Pless, Princess Daisy von, 86, 486. 

Plessen, General von, 88, 215, 497, 
500. 

Pobedonostzeff, M., evil influence of, 
155. 

Poklewski, M., 384. 

Poland, conditions in, 150. 

Polk, James K., 4. 

Port Arthur, attacked by Japanese, 
84; 194. 

Portsmouth, N, H., doubt as to suc- 
cess of pourparlers at, 194; their 
progress, 195 ; peace between Rus- 
sia and Japan concluded at, 197, 
205; M.'s part in result, 197; M.'s 
interview with Tsar concerning 
terms, 197 /f.; Iswolsky on per- 
forming terms of treaty, 334, 335 ; 
498. 

Post OiBce Department of the U. S., 
M. assumes charge of, 354; his 
first Annual Report, 364; his pro- 
gramme of improvements, 366 ^./ 
his methods of daily work, 369, 370; 
M., on administration of, 372; his 
second Annual Report, 413; and 
Navy Dep't, problems of, com- 
pared, 423. 

Post offices, display of signs on, 409. 

Postal matters, question of instruc- 
tion on, in school, 407, 408. 

Postal-savings-bank system, M.'s ef- 
forts to establish, '367, 358, 369; 
recommended by Roosevelt, 375; 
opposed by Cannon, 376, 377; 386, 
387, 390, 393, 394, 396, 397, 412, 
418, 470. 
Postmaster General, M. suggests 
change of title for, 355, 366, 367. 
And see Post Office Department. 
Postmasters, Fourth Class, in certain 
states, put on civil service list, 
413. 
"Posts, Secretary of." See Post- 
master General. 



Potemkin, Prince, 273. 

Potemkin, battleship. See Knydz- 

Potemkin. 
Potocki, Count, his estate (Anto- 

niny) in Volhynia, 313-315, 316; 

290. 
Potsdam, M.'s interview with Kaiser 

at, 228-230. 
Potter, William P., U. S. N., 468. 
Poyer, J. M., U. S. N., 467. 
Prescott, William H., 19. 
Prinetti, Signor, and the Venezuela 

affair, 65; 56. 
Provident Institution of Savings, 12. 
Prussia, conscript system in, 340, 

341. And see Germany. 
Puget Sound, dock at, 474, 476. 
Puget Sound Traction, Light and 

Power Co., 12. 
Puglie, Duke of, 103. 

Quirinal Palace, garden party at, 
55, 56; 45, 46, 48. 

Raccogiovini, Marquis, 51. 
Radowitz, Herr von, 247. 
Rampolla, Cardinal, 56, 57, 70. 
Ramsay, Baron, 252, 331, 335 t?. 
Ramsay, Baroness, 209, 243, 252, 254, 

335 n. 
Rasputin, monk, murder of, 310 n, 

342 n. 
Rechid Bey, 123, 128. 
Reid, Jean, 223. 
Reid, Whitelaw, gives dinner-party 

for M. (1911), 483, 485; 223, 347, 

391 and n., 486. 
Republican insurgents (1912), 

488. 
Republican National Committee 

(1908), rumour that M. is to be 

chairman of, 292, 293; 91, 379, 

488. 
Republican National Convention 

(1904), nominates Roosevelt, 90, 

93, 94; (1908), 397, 398; (1916), 

614. 
Republican Party, M.'s prominence 

in, 27; local fights in (1908), 410; 

meets disaster in 1912, 489; long 

tenure of office, 493. 
Republican platform of 1908, re- 
vised by Roosevelt, 394; 396. 



INDEX 



547 



Republican State Central Commit- 
tee (Mass.), 26. 

Republican State Convention 

(Mass.) in April, 1908, M. chair- 
man of, 387, 388; praises M. for 
his share in Russo-Japanese set- 
tlement, 388; expresses no prefer- 
ence for presidential candidates, 
888. 

Restigouche, salmon-fishing on the, 
364, 399. 

Revelstoke, Lord, 44. 

Review of Reviews (English), 205, 
340. 

Rhode Island, attitude of, on tariff, 
443. 

Ricevimento (official ambassadorial 
reception), given by M., 34, 35; 
a court function, 35; 47, 48, 66. 

Ristori, Mme., 71. 

Robespierre, Maximilian, 234. 

Robins, Miss, 177. 

Robinson, Charles L. F., 59, 60, 61, 
177. 

Robinson, Mrs. C. L. F., 177. 

Robinson, Douglas, 359, 384. 

Robinson, Mrs. Douglas, 359. 

Rock Maple Farm, 15. 

Rodd, Sir Rennell, 64, and n., 65, 
67, 411 and n. 

Rodd, Lady, 67, 411. 

Rodgers, C. R. P., U. S. N., marries 
Alice Meyer, 517; 13, 502. 

Rodjestvenskv, Admiral, 104, 105, 
144, 149, 184, 207, 385. 

Rogers, Eustace B., U. S. N., 469. 

Roman Campagna, hunting on, 37, 
79, 80, 81, 82. 

Romanoff dynasty in peril, 193. 

Rome, M.'s arrival at, 32; Grand 
Hotel, 32, 33; M.'s diary and Ro- 
man society, 36; visit of Edward 
VII to 67-69, and of the Kaiser, 
69-72; contrast between St. Peters- 
burg and, 136; M.'s farewell to, 
136; his admiration for, 343. 
And see Brancaccio Palazzo. 

Roosevelt, Alice Lee, 94, 95, 222. 
And see I/Ongworth, Mrs. Alice 
(Roosevelt). 

Roosevelt, Mrs. Edith (Carow), 94, 
219, 222, 357, 362, 388, 400, 403, 
406, 420, 421, 425, 428, 429, 437, 
466, 470. 



Roosevelt, Ethel, 400. 

Roosevelt, Kerrait, 391, 401, 440, 
465, 470. 

Roosevelt, Theodore, nominated for 
A^'ice-President, 27; suggested as 
arbitrator in Venezuela affair, 65; 
nominated for President, 90; in- 
sists on Cortelyou for Chairman 
of National Committee, 92, 93; 
proposes to take M. into Cabinet, 
95; elected President, 105; wishes 
M. to go to Russia, 108, 109, 110; 
his interest in Far Eastern situa- 
tion, 110, 111; his opinion of M., 
Ill; appoints M. Ambassador to 
Russia, 128; through M., offers 
good offices to Tsar, 145, 146; 
instructs M. to suggest meeting 
of plenipotentaries to arrange 
terms of peace, 156, 157; his char- 
acter, as outlined by M. to the 
Tsar, 159; his public invitation to 
Russia and Japan to meet, 164; 
annoimces their agreement to send 
plenipotentaries, 175; his speech 
at Harvard Commencement, 1905, 
183; on M.'s work at St. Peters- 
burg, 134, 219; receives plenipo- 
tentaries on Mayflower, 190, 191; 
his toast on that occasion, 191, 
192; applauded by the world for 
bringing about conference at 
Portsmouth. 197; his own Minis- 
ter of Foreign Affairs, 210, 211; 
Kaiser suggests him as mediator, 
213; wishes to have M. in Cabinet, 
220; urges him to return to St. 
Petersburg, 221, 222; joys of 
walking with, 222; his message to 
the Tsar, 223; looked to as medi- 
ator in case of deadlock at Alge- 
ciras, 264; attacks muckraking 
magazines, 272; suggests limiting 
size of individual fortunes, 273; 
correspondence with Kaiser 
about Morocco. 284; wishes M. to 
remain in Russia, 301 ; on M.'s 
achievement and prospects, 304,-305, 
325, 357, 358, 363; changes in his 
Cabinet, M. Postmaster General, 
322, 323, 324; his " Gouverneur 
Morris," and events in Russia, 327, 
328; Edward VII on, 350; walk- 
ing, riding, and tennis with, 354, 



548 



INDEX 



356; takes risks in jumping, 357, 
358; never wavered in his purpose 
to retire in 1909, 358; M. induces 
him to promise not to commit 
himself for all time, 358; on naval 
preparations for war with Japan, 
362, 363; proposes to raise corps 
of riflemen, 363; M. and Taft at 
Oyster Bay, 364-366; on prospects 
of Taft's nomination, 365; on the 
projected round-the-world jour- 
ney of the fleet, 366; on the politi- 
cal situation, 373; on the pos- 
sibility of accepting another nomi- 
nation, 373; his annual message 
of 1907, 375; letter to Cortelyou 
on method of relieving financial 
conditions, 375, 376; his "stunts" 
in walking, 371, 381, 382; his 
playfulness, 377, 378; advised by 
M. to issue definitive statement as 
to candidacy (1908), 379,380; ef- 
fect of his statement, 308 ; quoted, 
as to his plans on retirement, 381, 
382; on the Japanese situation, 
384; his confidential instructions 
to Admiral Evans, 384, 385; reads 
his message to Cabinet, 385; his 
policy toward anarchistic publica- 
tions, 886; his name applauded for 
49 minutes at Convention of 1908, 
398; on Congress, 390; reconciled 
to retirement, 391 ; M.'s talk with 
on " running " Taft's campaign, 
392-394; life at Oyster Bay, 400; 
plans for African trip, 400, 401 ; 
arrangement with Scribner's 
Magazine, and with the Outlook, 
401; his interview urging Taft's 
election, 402, 403; Gov. Haskell 
(Okla.) and W. J. Bryan, 403, 
404, 405, 406; and the Harvard 
footballers, 404; on Bosnia and 
Herzegovina and the Servians, 
410; on Great Britain and Tur- 
key, 410; and Sir R. Rodd, 411; on 
M.'s qualifications for Sec'y of the 
Treasury, 412; puts Fourth Class 
postmasters on civil service list in 
certain states, 413; on Taft's 
choice of M. for Sec'y of Navy, 
413; on discrimination against 
Japanese in California, 415, 416, 



and Nevada, 416; on his inviting 
Booker Washington to lunch, 416; 
vetoes bill relating to desertions 
from the Na\'y, 417; furious with 
the "peace crowd," 417; his last 
reception at the White House, 
419; M. on his administration, 
419; his views on location of fleet, 
419, 420; gives luncheon to "Ten- 
nis Cabinet," etc., 420; his fare- 
well to his Cabinet, 420, 421; fre- 
quent changes in head of Navy 
Dep't during his term, 422; his 
last moments in Washington, 424; 
farewell to his friends, 425; at 
Oyster Bay, after leaving office, 
428, 429; Jusserand on, 431; in- 
terest in his African trip, 440; 
his letters to Congress on organi- 
zation of Navy Dep't, 466, 467; 
and the campaign of 1912, 487 f.; 
M. opposed to his candidacy, 487, 
but offers to resign and support 
him, 487; M. favors his nomina- 
tion against Wilson in 1916, 513, 
514, and leads movement in that 
direction, 515; his letter to Mrs. 
Meyer on M.'s death, 519; 2, 62, 
63, 67, 76, 86, 89, 100, 107, 115, 
116, 119, 130, 136, 137, 163, 172, 
173, 176, 177, 180, 192 n., 195, 196, 
206, 209, 216, 218, 229, 231, 243, 
244, 251, 256, 268, 295, 296, 331, 
332, 334, 339, 341, 343, 344, "546, 
351, 352, 353, 355, 359, 360, 361, 
368, 371, 372, 374, 377, 388, 389, 
396, 409, 482, 437, 445, 446, 460, 
511. Letters of M, to. 111, 116, 
121, 124, 125, 132, 145, 149, 154, 
157, 167, 173, 181, 187, 192, 193, 
203, 209, 233, 246, 263, 285, 306, 
371, 437, 462, 465. 

Roosevelt, Theodore, Jr., 401, 404, 
429. 

Roosevelt Republican Club, 515. 

Root, Elihu, on relations of U. S. 
and Japan, 365, 370, 371; why he 
was the greatest secretary, 373, 
374; advises Roosevelt to issue 
statement as to his candidacy in 
1908, 380; on the U, S. senator- 
ship from N, Y., 382; treaties 
with Colombia and Panama, 414, 



INDEX 



549 



415; nominated for U. S. Senator, 
414; Roosevelt on, 414; negotiates 
fisheries treaty with Great Britain 
and Canada, 415; his speech at 
dinner to Pres. Eliot, 429, 430; 
on Taft's title as Republican can- 
didate in 1912, 488; 92, 93, 187, 
219, 220, 221, 222, 223, 224, 
231, 243, 247, 255, 346, 354, 357, 
375, 376, 381, 382, 384, 389, 390, 
397, 401, 406, 410, 417, 443; letter 
of M. to, 238. 

Rosebery, Earl of, 44, 485. 

Rosen, Baron, 153, 170, 172, 194, 
219, 335, 415. 

Rosen, Baroness, 153. 

Roukavichnikow, M., 123. 

Rouvier, Maurice, on war between 
France and Germany, 209; on af- 
fairs in Russia, 224; on Roosevelt, 
224; 216, 217, 227, 231, 256. 

Ruby, M.'s horse, 79, 80. 

Rudini, Marquis, 116. 

Rudini, Mme., 71. 

Russ, The, St. Petersburg newspa- 
per, suppressed, 174. 

Russia, Japan breaks relations with, 
83; her game of procrastination, 
83; Victor Emmanuel III on cor- 
ruption in, 90, 122; Roosevelt on 
importance of U. S. mission to, 
110, 111; M. accepts post of Am- 
bassador to, 112; Germany and 
the Russian loan, 114; serious 
condition of affairs in, 116, 117; 
alliance of France with, 117, 121, 
185; Barrere on course of, 117, 
118; Bernoff and St. James on 
disturbances in, 119, 120; the loan 
of 1905, 121; general confusion in, 
123; Sir E. Egerton on, 124; Vic- 
tor Emmanuel III on probable un- 
derstanding of, with Germany, 
122, 126; changed feeling of 
French diplomats toward, 127, 
128; M. appointed Ambassador 
to, 128; Victor Emmanuel III on 
his experiences in, 128, 129; M.'s 
arrival in, and first impressions, 
139, 140; confused state of affairs 
in, on his arrival, 144, 145; lack 
of real leaders, 144; cordiality of 
M.'s reception, 144, 145; "lack of 



administration," 150; lack of sys- 
tem in War Dep't, 150; conditions 
in, described in letter to Roose- 
velt, 154-156; corruption in Navy 
Dep't, and its result, 154, 155; 
and exports from U. S., 155, 156; 
provisions of treaty with Ger- 
many, 156; internal affairs of, 
160; invited by R. to send repre- 
sentatives to discuss peace, 164; 
press rumours as to her purjiose, 
165; her formal acceptance, 165; 
would have conference held at 
The Hague, 166 and n., 167; 
grave state of, 171, 178; her ple- 
nipotentiaries at peace conference, 
172; bureaucracy frustrates Tsar's 
good intentions, 173, 174; illiter- 
acy in, 174, 196; what is needed 
in, 179; effect of Witte's ap- 
pointment as first plenipotentiary, 
182; and the war, 184; conditions 
of her fleet, 184; rumours of agree- 
ment with Germany, 185 and n.; 
war party still existent, 189, 190; 
state of affairs in, 190; proposed 
commercial convention with U. S., 
190; conference at Peterhof re- 
sults in Tsar's decision to grant 
national assembly, 192, 193; fears 
alliance of Scandinavian coun- 
tries, 186; her attitude in pay- 
ment of indemnity, 194; Tsar an- 
nounces plan for national assem- 
bly — a great event in her history, 
195; Russian opinion of M.'s part 
in conclusion of peace, 197; feel- 
ing in, concerning terms of peace, 
201, 206, 208, 210; her attitude 
toward peace influenced by her 
idea of Japan's financial condi- 
tion, 204; weakness of, 209; Lans- 
downe and others on affairs in, 
223, 224, 225, 226; acts of Social- 
ists in, 225; von Billow on her 
needs, 227; Kaiser on gravity of 
conditions in, 229; revolutionary 
disturbances, 230; conditions in, 
described by M., 231, 232; aim of 
Socialist and labor unions in, 231 ; 
difficult financial condition of, 
231, 232; strike-leaders arrested, 
233; conditions compared to those 



550 



INDEX 



in France in 1789, 233, 234, 24.1; 
corruption in navy, 234; insubor- 
dination in army at many places, 
234; period of reaction, 234, 235, 
236; "an extraordinary country," 
236; participation of Jews in dis- 
turbances, 239; disorder general 
throughout empire, 239; disturb- 
ing factors to be reckoned with, 
239, 240; weakness and incompe- 
tency of government, 240; her 
moral support at Algeciras sought 
by France, 243, 246; bear-hunting 
in, 248-251; object of organizers 
of disturbances, 251; agrarian 
troubles in, 256, 257; rumour of 
secret treaty with China, 257; how 
concerned in outcome at Alge- 
ciras, Lamsdorff's instructions to 
Cassini, and the French alliance, 
268; home celebration of Easter 
in, 271; relations with Great 
Britain compromised by Times' 
correspondent, 274; a great 
awakening in, 282; entering on a 
great ex^periment, ill-prepared 
and uneducated, 286; M.'s pessi- 
mistic view of her future, 287, 
288; probability of collision be- 
tween Crown and Duma, 288; 
doubts as to loyalty of the army, 
288; Iswolsky and Goremvkin on 
the situation, 291, 292; corruption 
of bureaucracy, 297; lack of lead- 
ers, 297, 307; d'Aehrenthal on 
situation, 298; prejudice against 
Jews in, 302; great mass of her 
people not much superior to ani- 
mals, 306, 307; revolutionists fail 
to grasp the situation, 307; Sir 
D. M. Wallace on affairs in, 309; 
signs of reaction, 309, 310; one 
good road in, 320; outward aspect 
of aifairs as seen by M. in his 
travels, 321; conditions "im- 
proved, but not perfect," 329; 
acts of terrorists, 329; Iswolsky 
on conditions in, 333 f.j negotia- 
tions with Japan, 334, 335; M.'s 
farewell to, 335, 336; Kaiser on 
her relations with China and 
Japan, 339; and Germany, 340; 
M.'s view of affairs in, 349; and 



the integrity of China, 384; in 
1913, 493; M. on past misrule in, 
511. And see Council of E mpire^ 
Duma, LamsdorflF, Nicolas iT, 
Portsmouth, Russo-Japanese War. 

" Russia for Russians," society in 
Odessa, 317. 

Russian Imperial stables, 266. 

Russian officers oflFer services to U. 
S. in case of war with Japan, 
377. 

Russian Navj', 454. 

Russians, character of, 279; their 
incapacity as mariners, 295. 

Russo-Japanese War: preliminary 
rumblings of, 81, 82; Japan at- 
tacks Port Arthur, 84; probable 
defeat of Russia, 90; defeat of 
Russian fleet, 151, 152, 153; pro- 
posed armistice, 175, 176; Kaiser 
on commercial results of, 213, 214; 
naval lessons of, 454; 114, 129, 
133, 254, 255, 498. And see Ja- 
pan, Portsmouth, Russia. 

Sagamore Hill, 428. 

St. James, Commandant, on disturb- 
ances in Russia, 120, 121. 

St. Louis Exposition: question of 
Italian representation at, 72, 
73. 

St. Peter's, celebration of Immacu- 
late Conception at, 107, 108. 

St. Petersburg, great strike in, 

115, 116; troops fire on crowds, 

116, 117; Trepoff, Governor Gen- 
eral, his character, 117; contrast 
between Rome and, 136; seat of 
autocracy at its worst, 136; M.'s 
arrival and first days, 139, 140; 
his welcome by society, 146, 147; 
conditions in, 154; practically a 
bureaucratic city, 188; not en- 
thusiastic over plan for national 
assembly, 196; effect of conclu- 
sion of peace, 210; service at St. 
Isaac's Cathedral in honor of 
Tsar's name-day, 233; ballet at, 
236; C^nstmas in (1905), 236; 
stories of hooligans in, 237; elec- 
tion in, carried by Cadets, 267; 
Easter midnight mass at St. 
Isaac's 270, 271; Easter in, 271; 



INDEX 



551 



Trepoff's government of, 275; 
opening of Duma at, 278-281; 
bomb-throwing and robbery in, 
322. 

Sakhaline Island, attacked by Ja- 
pan, 179, 180; division of, 199, 200 
and n.; pavment to Japan for 
northern half of, 200, 202, 203, 
204; feeling in Russia about, 206; 
Roosevelt's message to Tsar on, 
223, 254. 

Salisbury, Marquis of, 75. 

Saltonstall, Frances, marries George 
von L. Mever, Jr., 517. 

San Diego, 473, 476. 

San Domingo, treaty with U. S. 
256, 428. 

San Francisco, M.'s visit to, 473- 
475. 

San Martino, Baron di, 102, 103. 

San Martino, Baroness di, 102, 103. 

San Rossore, 76, 77. 

San Salvador and Nicaragua, 427. 

Santa Claus, M.'s order concerning 
letters addressed to, 378, 379. 

Santiago de Cuba, 480, 481. 

Sarajevo, murder of Archduke 
Francis Ferdinand and his wife 

• at, 504. 

Saranoff, M., 87. 

Savinsky, M., 274. 

Saxe-Weimar, Grand Duke of, 61. 

Scheibler, Count, 207. 

Schevitch, M., 336 n. 

Schirimitew estate destroyed, 297. 

Schoen, Baron von, 246,' 247, 252, 
254, 255, 261, 278, 289; 294, 298, 
302, 303, 328, 338. 

Schoen, Baroness von, 289. 

Schwab, Charles M., in Russia, 150, 
151. 

Scribner's Magazine, Roosevelt 
agrees to write on his African trip 
for, 401; 204, 465. 

Scull, Guy, 273. 

Sebastopol, visited by M., 319, 320; 
attempted revolution at, 319. 

Seiden, Admiral von, 98. 

Senate of U. S., confirms M.'s ap- 
pointment to Italy, 30; refuses to 
allow Hay to accept French deco- 
ration, 431; passes Payne-Aldrich 
tariff bill, 436, 440. 



Senden-Bibran, Admiral von, 84, 

Sercbriakoffs, 335 7(. 

Serge, Grand Duke, murder of, 123; 
128, 276. 

Serge, Grand Duchess. See Eliza- 
beth, Princess of Hesse. 

Sermoneta, Duchess of, 123. 

Sermoneta, Duke of, 132. 

Servians, distrusted by Roosevelt, 
410. 

SejTiiour, Sir Edward, R. N., 464, 
485. 

Sheldon, George, 96, 222, 

Sheridan, Philip H., 402. 

Sherman, James S., nominated for 
Vice-President, 396 7i.; 424, 425, 
426. 

Sherman, Mrs. James S., 426. 

Sherman Anti-Trust Act: Wicker- 
sham on enforcement of, 432. 

Shipyards, commercial, how or- 
ganized, 438. 

Sims, William S., U. S. N., " of gun- 
practice fame," favors board of 
military experts to act as critics 
of naval designs, 436; on M.'s ad- 
ministration of Navy Dep't, 458, 
459; reprimanded by Pres. Taft, 
through M., 458 to. 

Sixth Congressional District 
(Mass.), M. and the Republican 
nom.ination in, 27 ^. 

Skrydloff, Admiral, 319. 

Smith, Charles Emory, 93. 

Smith, Roland Cotton, 51, 406, 420, 

Smith, Roy C, U. S. N., 224, 244, 
245, 467^ 

Smith, George E., 388. 

Smithers, Count von, 98. 

Socialist publications. See Pater- 
son. 

Socialists, German, in Russia, 332; 
losses of, in elections of 1907, 338. 

Socialists, Italian, demonstrations 
by, after birth of heir to throne, 
104. 
Socialists, Russian, an the Tsar's 
ukase concerning division of 
Crown lands, 225; aim of, 231; 
admirable organization of, 234, 
235. 
Somaglia, Countess, 71. 
Somssich, Count, 90, 125, 486. 



552 



INDEX 



Somssich, Countess, 90, 125, 486. 

Sonnino, Baron Sidney, 46. 

Sonnino, Prince, 81, 82, 

Sonnino, Princess, 71. 

Sophie, Crown Princess of Greece, 
214, 215, 218. 

Sorchon, Victor, 486. 

Spaulding, Mr., 473. 

Speck von Sternberg, Baron, 339 
and n.; 366, 386. 

Sperry, Charles S., U. S. N., 482. 

Spoleto, Duke of, 103, 

Spooner, John C, 92. 

Spring-Rice, Sir Cecil A., suspicious 
of Kaiser, 127; on the Morocco 
question, 256; fears embroilment 
of Germany and France, 256; 111, 
125, 208, 209, 223, 224, 236, 246, 
278. 

Standard Oil Co., 403. 

Staunton, S. A., U. S. N., 467. 

Stead, William T., 205, 206, 208, 
340, 344. 

Steed, H. Wickham, 46 and n. 

Stolypin, M., becomes Prime Minis- 
ter, 301 ; attempted assassination 
of, 305 and n., 306; his firmness, 
310. 

Stone, Melville E., 205. 

Storrow, James J., 96. 

Story, Marion, 69. 

Story, Mrs. Marion, 59. 

Story, Waldo, 64. 

Straus, Oscar S., 322, 373, 397, 405, 
406. 

Strike, general (Russia), failure of, 
303. 

Stumm, Herr von, 301, 313. 

Sturgis, Francis S., 7 and n. 

Subig Bay, 362. 

Submarines, 394. 

Sutherland, Duchess of, 68. 

Swanson, Claude A., 361. 

Sweden and Norway, probable dis- 
solution of union of, 186, 

Swift, William, U. S, N., 467, 468. 

Swift Board (Navy Dep't), 453, 
466. 

Swinderen, Mr. von, 360. 

Swinderen, Mrs, von, 360, 

Sysran, destroyed by fire, 299, 
300, 



Szechenyi, Countess Gladys (Van- 

derbilt), 605, 
Szecsen, Count, 83 and n.; 90. 
Sz^csen, Countess, 90. 

Taft, Charles P., 426. 

Taft, William H., at home in 1901, 
57, 58; M.'s impression of, 67; on 
M. as administrator, 355; Roose- 
velt on prospects of his nomina- 
tion in 1908, 365; opposition of 
reactionaries, 385; strong senti- 
ment for, in Mass., 387; proposed 
trip to Panama, 389; and Gen. 
Grant, 391; M. suggested as the 
man to " run " his campaign, 392, 
393, 394; nominated on first bal- 
lot, 398; in the campaign, 399; 
Roosevelt urges his election, 402, 
403; his prospects of election, 410; 
his Unitarianism a source of 
prejudice, 410, 411; elected, 412; 
forming his Cabinet, 412, 413; M. 
for Navy Dep't., 413, 414, 418, 
with Winthrop as Assistant Sec'y, 
419; his inauguration, 424-26; in- 
augural address, 425; first meeting 
of Cabinet, 426, 427; at the din- 
ner to Pres. Eliot, 429, 430 ; would 
have an inheritance tax, 432; his 
trip to Pittsburg, etc., 433; 
recommends tax on income of cor- 
porations, 434, 435, 438; commit- 
ted to reduction of army and 
navy appropriations, 439; and 
Sunday golf-playing, 441 ; his po- 
sition on the tariff, 442; on the 
work of conference committee on 
Payne-Aldrich tariff bill, 442, 
443; turns down the committee's 
report, which is modified to suit 
him, 444; lost the opportunity to 
use the "big stick," 444, 445; and 
the Ballinger-Pinchot controversy, 
445 ; his comment on tlie " salient 
points " of M.'s administration of 
Navy Dep't., 450, 451; and naval 
appropriations, 466; sentiment 
for, in California (1912), 473, and 
in West generally, 482; in the 
campaign of 1912, 487 f.; sup- 
ported by M., 487; M. on his 
speech of acceptance, 488; M, and 



INDEX 



553 



Root on his title as candidate, 
488; his defeat, 489; 2, 18, 41, 94, 
219, 220, 351, 364, 366, 374, 381, 
384, 396, 401, 418, 431, 432, 440, 
457, 458 n., 479. Letters of M. to, 
464, 473, 482, 488. 

Taft, Mrs. Helen (Herron), 394, 
424, 426, 489. 

Tagalog, the, 40. 

Takahira, Mr., 223. 

Tampa Electric Co., 12. 

Tariff, Taft's position on, 442. 

Tariff bill of 1909 (Payne-Aldrich), 
passed by Senate, 436; work of 
conference committee on, 442, 
443; committee how made np, 
443; report of committee modi- 
fied to suit Pres. Taft, 444; report 
accepted by House, 444. 

Tauride Garden, sessions of Duma 
held in, 273, 275. 

Teano, Princess, 68, 128. 

Telfener, Countess, 123. 

Temps, Le, 268. 

Tennis at the White House, 356. 

"Tennis Cabinet," 420. 

Terranova, Duchess of, 68. 

Thomas, Leonard M., 67. 

Thompson, (Clwrlco T., 182, 205, 207, 
278. \^<f)u)A^^? AT- 

Times, The, prejudices of Russian 
correspondent of, 274. 

Timiriaseff, M., on commercial treaty 
with U. S., 190. 

Tirpitz, Admiral von, 74. 

Tittoni, Signor, 79, 82, 106, 136. 

Togo, Admiral, 153. 

Torpedoes, experiments with, in 
1908, 395, 396. 

Tosno (Russia), shooting at, 235. 

Tower, Charlemagne, 84, 85, 126, 
330, 383, 389. 

Tower, Mrs. Charlemagne, 84, 86, 
497. 

Townsend, Mrs., 448. 

Tozzoni, Count, 78. 

Trabia, Princess, 68. 

Trauttmansdorff, Count Charles, 
152, 208. 

Trauttmansdorff, Countess, 152, 153, 
208. 

Travers, Mrs., 123, 

Trepoff, General, Governor General 



of St. Petersburg, 117; favors re- 
forms and a national assembly, 
193; and the disturbances in St. 
Petersburg in 1905, 275; on the 
Duma, 275; 326. 

Trepoff, M., brother of General T., 
326. 

Trigonia, Countess, 56. 

Trinita, Count di, 67, 

Trinita, Countess di, 67, 128. 

Triple Alliance, Kaiser charges Ed- 
ward Vn with trying to weaken, 
217. 

Trondhjem, cathedral at, 99. 

Troubetzkoy, Princess, 261; 271, 278. 

Tsarskoe Selo: M.'s first visit to, 
141 f.j reception of Diplomatic 
Corps at, 244-246, 247; requiem in 
private chapel at, 259-261; M.'s 
final audience with Tsar at, 330 ff. 

Tsu Shima, battle of, 152, 153. 

Tucker, Baron, 46. 

Turin, Count of, 41, 50 and n., 53, 
54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 63, 68, 69, 107. 

Turin: unveiling of statue of 
Prince Amadeo at, 63, 54; Con- 
cours Hippique at, 58; M. visits 
Duke of Aosta at, 101-104. 

Turkey, Sultan of, 429. 

Turkey and Macedonia: proposed 
arbitration between, 87; and 
Great Britain, 410; Kaiser on dis- 
advantages of her annihilation, 
502. 

Union of Unions, The, aims to cap- 
ture Moscow, 238, 239. 

United States, proposed as arbi- 
trator between Turkey and Mace- 
donia, 87; policy of, with relation 
to integrity of China and the 
Open Door, 109, 113, 126; feeling 
in China toward, 131; exports 
from, to Russia, 155, 156; Novoe 
Vremya charges secret alliance 
between Japan and, 183; pro- 
posed commercial agreement with 
Russia, 190; discriminating Rus- 
sian duties against, removed by 
commercial agreement, 194, 195; 
196; disadvantageous position of 
Ambassador of, 255; Kaiser on 
prospects of war with Japan, 339, 



554> 



INDEX 



340; Germany her natural ally in 
such case, 3^10; Germany wishes 
to form close ties with, 350; Root 
on relations M-ith Japan, 365, 370, 
371 ; commercial outlook in, not 
encouraging, 380; chance of 
trouhle with Japan, 380; M. 
urges strict neutrality of, in early 
days of World War, 511; M. a 
vigorous critic of war policy of, 
511. 

Vaglia, Euriglia Ponzo, 78, 81. 

Vanderbilt, Mrs. Grace, 68, 69, 484. 

Vapahofsky, M., 330. 

Venezuela, affairs in, 89; policy of 
U. S. toward, 429; 107. 

Venezuela affair (1902), 65, 66. 

Venice, difficulty over arrest of U. 
S. officers at, 52, 53; picturesque 
spectacle at, 72. 

Vesuvius in eruption, 270; 32. 

Vezev, H. Custis, 140. 

Victor Emmanuel II, 102, 10.3, 160. 

Victor Emmanuel III, King of 
Italy, M.'s first audience with, 33, 
.34; his guard and household, 34; 
M. introduces motor cars to, 38, 
39; quoted, on his own powers, 
40; audiences with, 45, 63, 64; 
opens Parliament, 50; on Nelidow 
and the Tsar, 77, 78; talks on 
various American subjects, 89, 
and on the Russo-Japanese War, 
90; his speech at opening of Par- 
liament, 107; on U. S. Navy and 
Panama, 107; his popularity, 119; 
on M.'s appointment to Russia, 
122; his prophecy as to relations 
of Russia and U. S., 122; on his 
experiences in Russia, 128, 129; 
M.'s farewell audience with, 134; 
gives farewell dinner to M., 134; 
M.'s audience with, in 1907, .341- 
.344; his opinion of the Tsar, 342; 
on disarmament, 343; on Monte- 
negrin affairs, 343; confers deco- 
ration on M., .356; 32, 35, 37, 46, 
47, 48, 49, 52, 5.3, 54, 55, 56, 57, 
58, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 76, 79, 81, 
100, 108, 113, 133, 1.38, 160, 170, 
249, 270, 3:36, .387, 401. 

Victoria, Queen, 33, 7.5, 217. 



Victoria-Louise, Princess, 337 and n. 

Viscenti-Venosta, Marquis Emilio, 
33. 

Vivian, Violet, 383. 

Vladimir, Grand Duchess, on af- 
fairs in Russia, 225; her dinner 
parties, 289; 152, 207, 208, 28.3, 
310, 311, 335, 419. 

Vladimir, Grand Duke, 121, 152, 
187, 197, 198, 207, 225, 246, 262, 
274, 275, 283, 305, 311, 335, 415, 
419. 

Volhvnia, conditions in, 315. 

Vreeiand, C. E., U. S. A., 467. 

Wadsworth, Wm. Austin, 388. 

Wadsworth, Mrs. Wm. Austin, 388. 

Wainwright, Richard, U. S. N., on 
M.'s work in Navy Dep't, 491; 
362, 468. 

Wallace, Sir Donald M., Russia, 
303 and n.; on affairs in Russia, 
309; 322. 

Walsh, Thomas F., 93, 94. 

Walter Baker Co., 12. 

War, general disinclination among 
nations to become involved in 
(1906), 256. 

Warashoff, M., 271. 

Ward, Aaron, U. S. N., 468. 

Wardwell, J. Otis, 387. 

Warlinsleku, Countess, 84. 

Warpakhovsky, M., 336 n. 

Warren, Whitney, 91, 221, and n., 
22.3, 484, 485. 

Warrington, John, 402. 

Washington, Booker T., Roosevelt's 
invitation to him to lunch at 
White House, a mistake, 416, 420. 

Washington, D. C, first chosen as 
place of meeting of peace confer- 
ence (1905), 166 and n., 167 /f, 

Washington Times, 392, 393. 

Watts, Ethelbert, 140. 

Webster, Daniel, 4. 

Wedel, Count von, 47, 49, 66. 

Wcdel, Countess von, 505. 

Weightman, Mr., 479. 

Wellman, Walter, 93. 

West Point cadets, 425. 

Westphalen, Count, 302. 

Wetniore, Charles, 91. 

Wheeler, Benjamin I., 222. 



INDEX 



555 



Whishaw, Mrs., 236. 

White, Andrew D., M.'s opinion of, 
258, 259. 

White, Henry, succeeds M. at Rome, 
119; represents U. S. at Algeciras, 
269; 111, 133 and n. 

Wickersham, Georg;e W., defines 
policy of Taft administration as 
to trusts, etc., 432; 427, 431, 441, 
442, 443, 453, 464. 

Widener, P. A. B., 61, 62. 

William II, German Emperor: M.'s 
first interview with, at Kiel, 59 f.; 
at Rome (1903), 69-72; impres- 
sion produced by, 70; reception to, 
at the Capitol," 71; M.'s second 
meeting with at Kiel, in 1903, 74, 
75; talks on Russo-Japanese War 
and other subjects, 84, 85; and the 
Russian Ambassador, 86: Mj 
dines with, on the Hohenzollern, 
at Naples, 88; luncheon with, on 
Hohenzollern, described by Mrs. 
Meyer, 97-100; M.'s interview 
witii, in Februarj^ 1905, 126, 127; 
on the neutrality and integrity of 
China, 126; his suspicions of Del- 
casse, 126, 127 ; his feeling toward 
Great Britain, 127; his interview 
with the Tsar, 185 and n., 188, 
191; his private correspondence 
with the Tsar, 199, 203; on Edward 
VII, 217, 218; M.'s further im- 
pressions of, 218, 219; M.'s inter- 
view with, at Homburg (Sept. 
1905), 211 f.; how he prepared 
the Tsar's mind for peace, 212, 
213; suggests Roosevelt as medi- 
ator, 213; on the commercial re- 
sults of the war, 213, 214; on the 
Morocco dispute and Delcasse, 
216; 217; visited by M. at Pots- 
dam, 228-230; on affairs in Rus- 
sia, 229; on British feeling toward 
Germany, 230; his amour propre 
at stake at Algeciras, 263; his 
visit to Tangier in 1905, 269; and 
Italy, 272; quotes the Tsar on 
Roosevelt and M., 284; on opti- 
mism, 323, 324; M;.'s interview 
with, in 1907, 336 f.; on the Ger- 
man elections, 338; on Russia and 
China and Japan, 338, 339; on 



the prospect of war between Ja- 
pan and U. S., 339, 310; on Ed- 
ward VII and Clemenceau, 339; 
Great Britain and Franco-German 
relations, 339, 340; on disarma- 
ment, 346 ; and the " yellow peril," 
346; would furnish us with a base 
of supplies in case of war with 
Japan, 366; and the supposititious 
Japanese troops in Mexico, 383; 
sends out rumours as to Japan's 
designs, 385; desires M. as Am- 
bassador to Berlin, 386; M.'s last 
meeting with, in 1913, 495 f.; 
calls M. " the American von Tir- 
pitz," 496 and n.; on relations be- 
tween Japan and U. S., 497; on 
the prestige of Ambassadors, 498; ■ 
on the feeling between Great 
Britain and Germany, 498; on 
Edward VII and Sir. E. Grey, 
498, 499; on his peaceful reign, 
499; on the increase in German 
army and navy, 499; on the 
British- Japanese treaty, 499, 500; 
his opinion of Ferdinand of Bul- 
garia, 501 ; shows M. his maps of 
the Balkan War, 502; on the an- 
nihilation of Turkey, 502; did he 
visit Paris incog.?, 503; 39, 42, 46, 
58, 73, 87, 89, 96, 133, 138, 142, 
143, 155, 160, 163, 164, 165, 17T, 
186, 199, 226, 231, 243, 246, 247, 
262, 264, 328, 330, 343, 344, 350, 
354, 478. 

William, German Crown Prince, 69, 
70, 71, 152, 212, 214, 215, 218. 

Wilson, Sir Arthur, R. N., 470. 

Wilson, Huntington, 443. 

Wilson, James, 397, 409. 

Wilson, Mrs. Lucy, 443. 

Wilson, Woodrow, 498, 510, 511, 513, 
515. 

Winslow, Erving, letter of M. to, 
511. 

Winter Palace, St. Petersburg, 
opening of Duma at, 278-281, 285. 

Winterton, Lord, 485. 

Winthrop, Beekman, 221 and n., 
378, 412, 417, 418, 443, 454. 

Winthrop, Mrs. Beekman, 443. 

Wirenius, Admiral, 312, 3L3. 

Witherspoon, Captain, U. S. N., 362. 



556 



INDEX 



"Witte, M.'s impression of, 181, 182; 
opposed to war from the nrst, 
181, 182; effect of his appoint- 
ment as first plenipotentiary-, in 
Russia and abroad, 182, 184; his 
view of his task, 182; favorable 
impression of, in U. S., 192 and 
11., 193, 196, 202; l)etween two fires, 
227; lack of public confidence in, 
22(i; fears attempts on his life, 
2G8; nervous about his future, 
268, 269; resigns, 276, 277; 124, 
154, 155, 169, 180, 183, 186, 194, 
201, 208, 210, 220, 222, 231, 232, 
233, 234, 235, 239, 243, 254, 257, 
267, 274, 275. 

Witte, Countess, anecdote of, 257 , 
258, 274. 

Wolcott, Roger, 26, 28. 

AVood, Leonard, U. S. A., 67, 502, 
503, 517. 

Woronzow, M., 274. 

Worontzoff, Countess, 335 n. 

Wrangel, Count, 252, 484. 



Wright, Luke E., 404, 411, 425, 426, 

428. 
Wright, State Senator (Calif.), 473. 
Wrights, the, pioneers in aviation, 

440, 444. 

Yale Bevieio, 512. 

Yalta, Crimea, 320. 

Yolanda, Margherita, Princess, 41, 
78. 

Young, S. M. B., U. S. A., 403. 

Youssoupoif, Prince, his palace at 
St. Petersburg, 276, 277; his 
palace at Moscow, 325; M.'s hunt- 
ing expedition with, 326, 327; as 
a host, 327; 310 and n., 335 n., 
505. 

Youssoupoif, Princess, 277, 330, 
335 n. 

Yukki, club at, 251, 252, 254, 261, 
325. 

Zanardelli, Signor, 55, 69, 78. 



3i|.77-2 



